


About Last Night

by wrldtravler



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, I couldn't resist, Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, Oral Sex, Plot twist there's a plot now, Role Reversal, Shameless Smut, Smut, so much foreplay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-15 04:34:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 55,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10550150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrldtravler/pseuds/wrldtravler
Summary: As a favor, Felicity reluctantly hired none other than Oliver Queen to be her executive assistant. What she never agreed to was how distracting it would be having him only a few feet away with only a wall of glass between them. Apparently, Felicity isn't the only one struggling with the close proximity.Otherwise known as a shameless AU in which Felicity is a CEO, and her assistant Oliver Queen is more than willing to give her a hand.





	1. Last Night

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Arrow Wednesday! I don't know about you guys, but this mini hiatus is going to be the death of me. I'm simultaneously so excited and so nervous for Arrow to return in a few weeks. I can't wait for all the wonderful Olicity goodness we're going to be treated to, but at the same time I know I'm going to be a hot mess watching it all go down haha.
> 
> In the meantime, here's a juicy little fic to wet your whistle while we wait for the return of our beloved OTP.

Of all the people she had interviewed, she'd chosen to hire Oliver freaking Queen. The Queen's were old family friends, sure. They wanted Oliver to gain some valuable work experience while shadowing a CEO before he took his place at QC, fine. What Felicity never agreed to was the effect of Oliver Queen on her poor ovaries on a daily basis. Most definitely not fine.

After a month of working closely with Oliver, with nothing but a glass wall separating them, Felicity was astounded that she still had a company to run at all. Based on how she spent her work hours lately, she was pretty sure her job was actually to stare at Oliver all day, not run a billion dollar tech company.

For probably the fifth time already this morning alone, Felicity felt her eyes drift from her computer to where Oliver was diligently working at his desk just outside her office. As he worked, she watched his lithe fingers manipulate the keyboard easily, she traced every muscle of his arms that contracted and relaxed with each tiny movement under his white button-up, and she bit her lower lip gently at the slight furrow of his brow in concentration. He looked so serious and somehow so handsome while doing so.

Felicity momentarily let herself imagine what else those strong fingers could do, how those same muscles would react to her own touch, and how he could probably set her nerves on fire if he gave her that same intense look under _very_ different circumstances. A wave of desire passed through Felicity, causing her to squirm in her seat slightly and bite down even harder on her lower lip to contain the involuntary moan that threatened to slip out due to her musings.

As if sensing her thoughts, Oliver stayed hunched over his work but glanced up to his left to observe Felicity momentarily. He gave her a knowing smile too, the cheeky ass. Of course he knew he was attractive and that literally no one is immune to his charm - and who wouldn't if they looked like he did.

With a slight blush, Felicity quickly averted her eyes back to her computer where she was running her own program that checked the status of all the firewalls throughout the company's mainframe. Not that she didn't trust the Head of her IT Department to do this, Felicity just liked to personally perform the check up on occasion as well. She just couldn't help it.

Suddenly, all of her earlier thoughts were gone the second she saw the warnings begin to flood her screen. Some overly cocky kid was trying to hack into her system. And they were doing an unfortunately good job of it too, considering about a quarter of her system was down already.

Hitting the speaker button on her phone quickly, Felicity went into panic mode and began doing damage control as she waited for Oliver to answer the phone. "Ms. Smoak?" Oliver's deep timbre rang out eventually.

"Get in here. Now." Felicity said in a panic as her fingers moved like lightning over the keyboard, her eyes frantically scanning the screen as she attempted to trace and kill the hack.

Seconds later, she saw a pair of grey slacks in her peripherals and tore her eyes away for a second to fix Oliver with a concerned look so he understood the severity of the situation. A look of worry passed over his beautiful face, but Felicity couldn't think about that or focus on the handsome specimen in front of her. Turning back to her computer, she went back to the task at hand of shutting down the servers to isolate the hacker while she rattled off commands to Oliver. "We have a hacker, and a good one. I need you on damage control. Tell IT I'm handling it, and that I'm not to be disturbed under any circumstances. Then email the entire company making them aware of the intrusion, and that I'm shutting down portions of the server to combat this so that they don't freak out over connectivity issues. This is where I need you the most – I need you to handle all of the emails and calls that come in today. I can't take my eyes off this for a second until I've found the source and shut it down. After this, I don't want to be disturbed." Felicity ordered, briefly glancing to Oliver to check that he understood what she was asking.

"Understood, Ms. Smoak." Oliver replied seriously as he turned to make a quick exit and begin damage control from his end. "Queen?" Felicity called out just as Oliver had reached the door, making him pause. "As a heads up, I may be in for a long day, but you aren't required to stay after normal business hours. This is nothing unusual, but this is your first rodeo helping me deal with a hacker. I just wanted you to understand that I don't need you to stay." Felicity advised quickly, sparing him one final glance. Based on this hacker's skill level, she predicted she'd be here well after dinner time tonight. Oliver gave her a wordless nod just before she turned her gaze back to her computer, but Felicity missed the lingering look of concern he gave her before he returned to his own desk, both settling in for the long haul.

  
  


Felicity had been right. She wished she hadn't been, but she was. It was nearing 10 pm, the rest of the building was quiet, all of Starling City was quiet for that matter, but Felicity was still putting the final touches on shoring up her system again.

She had found the source of the hack, sent a report to the security team, and stopped said hack hours ago, but the hard part was performing an analysis on the hack and then adjusting the system accordingly while simultaneously making sure new hacks didn't occur when the system was in maintenance. That painstaking process is what kept Felicity so late when things like this happened.

As soon as she dotted the last metaphorical I's and crossed her digital t's, Felicity ran a hacking program to test her improved firewalls and sat back while she waited for the results. Reaching over to grab the cup of coffee to her right, her hand paused for a beat before picking it up and taking a long sip. Now that the worst had finally passed, giving Felicity's mind a chance to rejoin the world around her, she realized Oliver had been quietly supplying her with coffee and food all day. How he managed to quietly sneak in to take care of her all day was amazing. Not only that, but the fact that he did it at all amazed her. And he'd handled her instructions and any subsequent business that needed handling without having to bother her.

Felicity couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips as she sipped from her coffee again. Oliver Queen may be all right after all.

Before glancing at her program to check it's progress, her eyes slid to his desk again and she breathed a sigh of relief. She honestly hadn't been paying any attention to the world around her for the last 10 hours, so she was glad to see his unoccupied desk. _And he actually listened to me when I told him to go home at a reasonable hour_ , Felicity thought humorously. _He's a keeper for sure_. 

Hearing a ping that the results were ready finally, she took a deep breath and shifted her attention back to her screen to scan the results window a few times. With a large sigh, she leaned back into her office chair and let her head fall back against the top of the chair in relief. She was finally done. Her updated firewall passed her test, and she could finally go home.

Except moments later, in her state of extreme relief, she was just about to fall asleep in her chair until a cough startled her awake. Her eyes flew open to see none other than Oliver Queen standing in front of her desk. He was still in his grey slacks (her personal favorite) and his white button-up that now sported rolled up sleeves and a few of the top buttons undone. With his ruffled hair and his stubble looking slightly more pronounced after a long day's work, he looked like one of her dreams come to life. Blinking a few times, Felicity just stared at Oliver with her mouth slightly agape. "This is a great dream." Felicity breathed out in a daze.

Oliver's face broke out into an adorable grin as he let out a breathy chuckle. "I'm really here, Felicity." Oliver responded in amusement, totally foregoing their standard protocol of addressing each other professionally while in the office.

"Now I know I'm dreaming. You only call me Felicity at work in my dreams." Felicity stated matter-of-factly, still slightly out of it from her intense exhaustion finally getting the best her.

"You dream about me? And at the office too? Naughty girl." Oliver teased, giving her an amused grin at hearing his boss openly admit to dreaming about him.

At once, several things happened. First, Felicity finally realized that this was indeed the real Oliver. Then, Felicity proceeded to go so red she looked liked she'd been out in the sun all day without sunscreen. But most importantly, despite Oliver's teasing tone and amused grin, she noticed that his eyes betrayed his humorous façade. He was more than intrigued by the fact that Felicity dreamed about him.

"Oh no. You're really Oliver. And I just told you I dream of you. Not that it's not true, but you _never_ needed to know about that. But, for the record, it's only under very... platonic circumstances. Not that it wouldn't be reasonable to dream of you in other situations. I mean, have you seen yourself. Of course you have, what am I saying. Oh my god, I'm just making this worse, aren't I? Please, stop me." Felicity rushed out and quickly buried her head in her arms on her desk once she finally managed to reign in her rant.

With a deep breath, and hoping her blush that seemed to be a permanent feature subsided slightly, she lifted her head to face Oliver again. "Wait, why are you here? I know I haven't really been... present, but I'm sure you went home hours ago." Felicity asked curiously.

Suddenly, Oliver seemed very nervous as he slid his left hand into the pocket of his slacks, shifted his gaze to the windows overlooking Starling, and shuffled on his feet slightly. "I did go home." He admitted quietly. "I went home around 7, but I couldn't help but worry. I've never seen you like this. I called the security guard about 30 minutes ago to see if you were still here. When he told me you hadn't moved an inch, I... I wanted to come check on you. And bring you this." He finished softly as he set a paper bag down on her desk.

Big Belly Burger. He'd brought her dinner. And came back to check on her, after he'd already gone home. If she weren't so hungry, and embarrassed by her earlier gaffe, Felicity was 90% percent sure she'd take him right then and there on her desk.

Only slightly wincing after having been in her chair for the last few hours without a break, Felicity stood up and moved around her desk to stand next to Oliver. Craning her head up to look at him since she'd foregone her black pumps long ago in favor of comfort, she fixed him with a sweet, thankful smile. Who knew the former playboy Oliver Queen could be so thoughtful. Felicity tentatively reached out and wrapped her delicate fingers around his hand and gave it a brief squeeze. "Thank you. How'd I get so lucky to earn this kind of attention from the famous Oliver Queen." She said sincerely, attempting a small joke at the last part. Oliver seemed to frown slightly, but he didn't say anything.

With a tug on his hand, Felicity grabbed the bag of food and led him over to her set of couches in the corner of the room next to the windows overlooking the city. "Come, eat with me. I could use the company of another human for a while after literally shutting everyone out all day." Felicity softly insisted as she plopped down on one of the two couches that were aligned perpendicularly to one another and began unpacking the food on the coffee table in front of her. Almost hesitantly, as if he were debating leaving, Oliver eventually sat down on the other couch.

For a long while, they ate in silence. Well, Felicity ate in silence. Oliver only occasionally ate some of the fries she placed between them. She didn't miss the fact that there was only one set of food. She was tired, but not that tired. Oliver clearly hadn't meant to stay, but he did anyways. And she was really glad he did, but she would never admit that out loud. She already embarrassed herself enough for one night.

Once the food was polished off, Felicity knew she needed to thank him for today before the moment passed. "Oliver, you were really amazing today, by the way. I know I was really out of it, but I could tell that you handled everything with such poise. And... thank you for all the coffee and food. You didn't need to do all of that for me." Felicity explained, meeting his eyes hesitantly.

The slight frown was back, but so briefly Felicity was sure she was seeing things. Next thing she knew, his eyes were on her with such a fiery look that Felicity's next breath caught in her throat. "I'd do it again anytime." He responded, giving her a tiny smile. "You just don't realize you special you are." He whispered seriously, and suddenly that look she'd seen earlier when she'd mentioned the dreams was back.

And just as suddenly, her whole body was on fire. She licked her bottom lip before pulling it between her teeth. Her thoughts drifted into very dangerous territory. She wasn't supposed to want Oliver like this. But he wasn't supposed to say things like that to her, or look at her like he was now either.

 _Now or never, Smoak_. She internally advised.

Later she would consider blaming her next move on her exhausted brain being in charge.

Slowly standing up, Felicity pulled up the hem of her grey dress with the orange panels on her side slightly and climbed onto Oliver's lap with her knees on either side of his hips. She watched Oliver's eyes slide shut in pleasure as his hands automatically slid under her ass.

Felicity's eyes scanned his face as she placed a hand on his chest for balance and let her other hand slide into his hair, her nails scratching his scalp slightly. For those few moments, Oliver kept his eyes shut, as if he were the one dreaming now and trying to hold on to the last memories of the dream before waking up. It was almost like he didn't think this was happening either. He flexed his hands on her ass slightly, hesitating to make his next move for fear of breaking the spell.

She scooted her hips infinitesimally closer to his, telling him it was okay, that this was real. "Felicity?" He croaked out in question, his fingers suddenly gripping her ass firmly as his eyes slid open again. He had to tilt his head up slightly with Felicity's new position on his lap, but his eyes instantly sought her's, his piercing blue gaze filled with so much uncertainty.

She nodded to him slightly, giving him the briefest of smiles. Apparently she wasn't the only one who wanted this, but never thought it'd actually happen.

As if a switch had been flipped in him, look in his eyes shifted from unsure to hungry, his hands finally pulled her hips flush with his, and he closed the remaining gap between their lips to capture her own in a fiery kiss that sent tingles down to her toes. _This is so unfair how much better this is in real life than all those times I dreamt about it_ , Felicity thought briefly as her lips molded around his in a deep yet tender kiss.

A moment later they broke apart and Felicity leaned her forehead against his, still reeling from that one kiss as they panted heavily in unison. When Oliver removed his hands from her, she couldn't help but let out a soft whimper at the loss of contact. His fingers grazed her cheek seconds later though, causing her to pull back slightly to look at him. This time, it was his hungry gaze that was tracing all the lines of her face, memorizing every last detail of this moment. Then, with deft hands, Oliver gently slid her glasses off her face and set them on the coffee table behind her. The tender gesture set her heart beating wildly at the intimacy of the moment.

It was then that her brain decided to wake up momentarily. Maybe it was the scrutiny of his gaze, or the fact that she realized her glasses must have been askew after that kiss, but suddenly Felicity felt very self-conscious. She realized her long day had left it's mark: she knew there were bags under her eyes, her hair was coming out of it's previously neat ponytail, and almost all of her makeup had been rubbed off from stress by now. _I must look absolutely terrible_. Felicity thought, horrified.

With the slightest shake of his head, Oliver placed one hand back on her ass as the other came up to cup her cheek tenderly. "You're always beautiful, Felicity." Oliver whispered, and in this moment Felicity allowed herself to believe him.

Squashing her embarrassment at having unknowingly vocalized her thoughts, Felicity crashed her lips to his and curled her fingers that were still entwined in his hair as she tried to bring herself as close as possible to him. A low growl rumbled through Oliver's chest, and just like that all the tenderness previously present dissipated. He gripped her ass firmly again and pulled her hips flush with his while simultaneously thrusting up into her.

 _Oh my god..._ Felicity managed to think as a sharp gasp involuntarily escaped her at the contact. She could tell he was only half hard still, but she was already highly impressed. He certainly lived up to the rumors. This man couldn't get any more perfect.

For a moment, they stayed there with barely a breath of space between themselves, simply letting their lips explore the other's in various ways. The kiss went from gentle to hungry to exploratory to sensual all within seconds. Clearly they were both in no rush. Well, until Oliver finally let his hands to explore her body. Sliding his hands around to her thighs, he traced his rough fingertips up her bare thighs and under her dress that was practically around her waist already.

"Oliver.." She pleaded desperately against his lips as he splayed his fingers over her upper thighs, his thumbs coming dangerously close to her already sensitive clit. He was so temptingly close already that he could easily shift a thumb over and send her senses into overdrive.

With a small smirk, he gave her already bruised lips a small nibble before shifting to bury his face in the left side her neck. Starting by placing a tender kiss just under her ear, he worked his way down her neck with slow open-mouthed kisses and occasional nibbles. While his lips worked their magic on the sensitive skin of her neck, his thumbs gently rubbed circles against her inner thighs, prolonging the delicious torture. Somehow, Oliver had barely begun his ministrations, yet Felicity was already so freaking turned on.  
Desperate for some kind of relief, Felicity ground her hips down into his incredibly hard length that was now straining against his grey slacks. With their current position, that did the trick as his length brushed directly against her soaked core. "Fuck." Felicity gasped, her head lolling back and her eyes fluttering shut at the jolt of pleasure that shot through her at the sensation.

At the sudden contact, Oliver sucked in a sharp breath of his own as his teeth gently bit into the soft muscle of her shoulder. After a few deep breaths to calm himself, he released her shoulder and gently licked his bite mark before moving back up to nibble on her earlobe. "You're absolutely intoxicating. Those little sounds and the way you react to just my touch." He purred into her ear, the desire and barely contained desperation clearly evident, which promptly made Felicity let out a soft mewl in response before grinding into him again.

Now it was Felicity's turn to feel him, which she'd been dying to do for weeks. While Oliver continued his sensual treatment of her neck, Felicity brought her hands between them to slowly undo the buttons of his shirt. As Felicity's delicate hands did their work, Oliver paused his ministrations and leaned back against the couch to watch her work with pure desire in his eyes and a content smile on his lips while his thumbs continued to tenderly stroke her thighs.

Glancing up to him and away from the skin she was slowly exposing for a moment, Felicity bit her lip to suppress a small giggle. They had to paint such an interesting picture. Felicity straddling Oliver's lap with her dress around her waist, bruised lips and untold amounts of redness all over her neck and chin from his stubble, and then there was Oliver who was painted on the couch like a sex god with his shirt half unbuttoned, his hands up Felicity's dress and his hair completely out of place.

As if realizing Felicity lost focus for a moment, Oliver craned his neck forward to capture Felicity's lips in a long kiss that made Felicity's heart flutter wildly in her chest. Picking up where she left off, Felicity quickly undid the remainder of his buttons and dove in for her treasure that lie underneath. Grinning against his lips, Felicity flattened her hands against his toned torso, slid her hands up to his pecs and then gently raked her nails down his newly exposed skin. Oliver's subsequent shiver and moan told Felicity he was enjoying her explorations as much as she was.

Placing a short, soft kiss on his lips, Felicity slowly disentangled herself from him until she was standing in front of him. Oliver gave her a puzzled, almost angry look that she was now out of his reach, but she held up a finger and gave him a sly smile. "I'm not going anywhere." She whispered breathily as she went to make her next move. Keeping her eyes on his, she slowly reached behind herself to unzip her dress. When a look of realization passed over his face, she watched as his gaze became more intense as if he were ready to rip the dress off of her if she didn't hurry up. Emboldened by this, Felicity slid her arms out of the dress and shimmied out of it until it was pooled around her feet and she was left in nothing but her tiny thong she happened to wear today.

For a moment, neither of them moved, each taking their time in observing the other. And boy did Felicity get an eye full. She couldn't believe this was really happening. In front of her, spread out on the couch was one incredibly sexy, turned on Oliver Queen. Her eyes traced over his parted lips, observed the heavy panting of his chest out of desire, eagerly consumed the hard planes of his chest and stomach exposed by his completely undone shirt, watched as he clenched and unclenched his fists that rest on top of his spread legs, before hungrily landing on his cock that was practically pulsing under his slacks now. What turned Felicity on the most about the sight in front of her though was that it was all for her.

The second her eyes lazily met his again, Oliver was on his feet faster than should have been possible and had his hands and mouth on Felicity before she knew what was happening. Winding her arms around his neck and pressing herself impossibly close to him, Felicity succumbed to the hot, wet kiss from Oliver and melted into his embrace. His hands started by cupped her breasts gently, brushing the pads of his thumbs over her peaks briefly before sliding his hands to her sides. Their lips continued to move with unbelievable synchronicity as Oliver gently caressed her skin on his way down to cupping her bare ass again. She definitely got the impression he was an ass man at this point.

In a surprising move, Oliver slid his hands behind her thighs and lifted her off the ground with an amazing amount of strength. "Oliver!" Felicity squeaked against his lips as she tightened her arms around his neck and wound her legs around his hips so she wouldn't fall off.

Tilting his hips up slightly and then undulating them against hers slightly, his bulge rubbed in all the right places and Oliver gave a cheeky smirk at Felicity's soft moan. "Much better." Oliver ground out as he nibbled and sucked on her bottom lip.

"Desk, Oliver." Felicity panted desperately before capturing his lips with her own again and scratching the back of his neck with her nails gently. With a low grumble of approval, Oliver made it to her desk in three strides and quickly cleared the edge closest to him before gently depositing her there. "Naughty girl." He complimented as he placed his hands on either side of her on the desk, and moved his lips back to her neck.

"Oliver please." She begged, bucking her hips against his in an effort to finally get the relief that was long overdue. His only response was to smile against her skin as he kissed his way down her neck. Without the barrier of the dress, Oliver was free to keep going this time, and on his way down he stopped to tenderly suck and tease both of her nipples with small nips and licks. Felicity wrapped one arm around his broad shoulders and slid the fingers of her other hand into his hair again as she attempted to pull him closer while arching her back into his delicious mouth to chase the pleasure he was giving her. 

Then, in his hottest move yet, Oliver's fingers teased the lines of her thong briefly before firmly gripping the thin fabric and ripping them apart, tossing the destroyed remains of the fabric on the floor. If she weren't so insanely turned on by his display of strength, she would have been so mad at him for ruining her good underwear. That and he proceeded to slide his middle finger up her wet folds before circling her clit a few times, effectively rendering Felicity brain dead.

Her mouth fell open in a silent moan and her hips bucked into his finger at it continued to work her clit at an achingly slow pace. Giving her breasts a few final nips, Oliver slowly lowered to his knees in front of her while kissing his way down her stomach. Passing over her core, he turned his head to his left to place a soft kiss on the inside of her right thigh while his eyes stayed on her face to savor every little reaction he elicited from her.

When she felt Oliver finally slide his middle finger into her waiting clit, she would have fallen backwards if she didn't manage to catch herself with her arms to keep herself propped up. "Yes.." She breathed out as Oliver slowly pumped the finger inside of her, occasionally curling it up to brush her g-spot. As Oliver's finger continued it's exploits, his lips worked their magic on the skin of her inner thigh. She'd chastise him later for the mark he was surely going to leave there. The gentle probing of his finger, the feel of his soft lips on her tender skin, the occasional nips, and the tingle of his scruff on her skin were all too much for her senses.

Reaching a shaky hand around to cup the back of his head, Felicity gently indicated for him to look at her. Planting one final tender kiss against the spot he'd been ravaging seconds ago, Oliver turned his lustful gaze back up to her own hooded eyes. "C'mere." Felicity gently commanded with an upward tug of his shirt. Obediently, Oliver stood up again, but continued stroking his finger in and out of her at his tantalizingly slow pace while Felicity slowly rocked her hips in time with his finger.

With one hand Felicity pulled his head towards hers to crush her lips against his while her other hand snuck down to begin undoing his pants. The second the zipper was undone, she slid her hand into his pants to cup and stroke him through his boxer briefs. Shooting out a hand to grip the edge of the desk in pleasure, Oliver broke their kiss to drop his head onto her shoulder. "Fuck Felicity, please." He growled against her skin as he rocked his hips in time with her firm strokes.

She couldn't help the proud smirk that came over her lips that the one and only Oliver Queen was like putty in her hand right now. Giving him a few more firm strokes through his boxer briefs, Felicity hooked her thumbs into the tops of his slacks and underwear and pushed them down just enough for his straining cock to finally escape. Now that he was free, Felicity eagerly wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock and gave a firm upward stroke, swirling her thumb over his head at the top of her stroking motion.

He shuddered, hips jerking erratically against her hand as he gripped the desk next to her as tightly as he could as waves of pleasure wracked his body. A few more firm strokes later, Oliver's hand on the desk shot out and grabbed her wrist firmly to stop her motions. Neither of them wanted this to be over before it really started. With his head still resting on her shoulder, she could feel his breath coming out in hot puffs against her skin as he took a moment to regain his composure. Not long later, once his heavy breathing had slowed slightly, he pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder and leaned back slightly, reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet and grab the condom he had stashed in there.

Biting her lower lip roughly in anticipation, Felicity watched as he deftly rolled the condom onto his length, tossing the wrapper in the trash can nearby. Placing one hand back on the desk next to Felicity, Oliver shifted close again and used his other hand to teasingly rub his length over her slick folds.

With a sharp gasp, Felicity shifted her hips towards the edge of the desk in an attempt to feel more of him. "Please." She rasped out into his ear.

Oliver continued to lazily stroke his length up and down her, gently prodding her opening every once in a while on his way down. At her begging, a low chuckle rumbled through his chest. "Tell me, what do you want Felicity?" He coaxed, lining up the head of his cock with her entrance so he could claim her the second she gave the word.

Rocking her hips against him, she slowly brought her legs up to hook around the backs of his thighs. Wrapping one arm around his torso, and the other around his neck, she clung to him and used what little strength she had to inch impossibly closer to him. As a result, he spread her folds ever so slightly, only making Felicity want more. "You. Oliver. I want you." She moaned into his ear. "Fuck me, Oliver." She commanded, his body instantly tensing in anticipation at her words.

And just like that, he tilted his hips and slid home, both of them letting out a sigh of satisfaction. "Hold on tight." He gritted out as he braced one hand under her ass and the other on the table. Slowly thrusting in and out a few times at first, Felicity couldn't help but let out an impatient moan. She wanted, no _needed_ him to go harder, faster. She needed relief.

In recognition, suddenly his hips slammed into hers and began to build up to a frantic pace, causing Felicity to see stars. Tightening her arms and legs that were still wound around his body, she let out a satisfied moan as she began to rock her hips into his, trying to time it with his thrusts. Using the table as his anchor, Oliver finally let his control slip as he poured all of his need, desire and hunger out into every thrust.

"So tight... so wet for me." Oliver whispered into her ear before peppering her neck with a few light kisses. Shifting his hips slightly, Oliver pivoted his pubic bone right against her clit so that he made delicious contact with every thrust.

In this new position, Felicity instantly knew she wouldn't last much longer. A shudder passed through her, her nails digging into his back as her walls began to quiver around him with every thrust. "Only for you." She shakily responded, bucking her hips more and more erratically into him as she chased her release. And she really wasn't lying. Nobody had ever made her feel this way.

Her confession only seemed to spur Oliver on further as he pumped in and out of her with a renewed sense of purpose. After a few minutes of nothing but listening to Oliver's grunts as he continued to pour everything he had into his thrusts, savoring the feeling of their sweat slicked bodies sliding together in perfect synchronicity, and letting the immense pleasure he was giving her swallow her whole, she knew she'd reached her tipping point. "Oh fuck, yes... Oliver!" She panted breathily before involuntarily shouting his name out as her walls clamped down on him hungrily, her hips bucking against him wildly as her orgasm washed over her.

Gritting his teeth, Oliver forced himself to slow his thrusts slightly to help her work through her orgasm, even though he wanted nothing more than to power through and attain his own release. At the same time though, he was savoring this moment with her, so he was more than happy to prolong it. Burying his nose into her hair, he pressed a kiss to her temple as he lazily thrust in and out. "Beautiful." He mumbled quietly, holding her tightly against him while she clung on just as tightly as wave after wave of her orgasm ripped through her.

Just when he thought he couldn't wait any longer, her grip loosened slightly and she began to rock her hips against him again, urging him on once more. Before he could build up his pace again, Felicity leaned back, cupped his jaw and caressed his lips with her own in a fiery kiss of appreciation that almost made him cum on the spot. With a growl, he attacked her lips hungrily as he slammed into her over and over in desperation. He was so close and she could feel it in every one of his thrusts.

"Come for me, Oliver." She purred against his lips, raking her fingers down his back as she pulled herself closer to him, if that was even possible at this point. His hungry blue eyes bore into her own for a moment before giving her one last blistering kiss. Resting his forehead against hers, his eyes slid shut and his brow furrowed in concentration as he gave a few more rough pumps. "Shit.." He ground out through his clenched teeth as his hips began to spasm uncontrollably. Just as suddenly as the spasms began, they ended and he snapped his hips into her's one last time to bury himself all the way inside of her. With a few small thrusts, Oliver completely emptied himself into the condom.

Coming down from their high together, Felicity curled herself into his large frame, Oliver bringing his hand up from the desk finally to wrap himself around her protectively. They stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, for who knows how long, both too afraid and too exhausted to move, not wanting this to be over just yet.

Eventually, Oliver was the first to move as he gently slid himself out of her, effectively breaking the spell. "We should get you home." He conceded with a tinge of hesitation.

Nodding against his chest in agreement, Felicity held on for just a moment longer before shifting in his arms and disentangling herself from him. As much as she wanted to stay in this moment with him forever, today had been a long, stressful day and it was getting really late, so she knew he was right. She just didn't want him to be though.

He held out a hand to her, which she gratefully accepted as she hopped down from the desk onto shaky legs. Oliver placed his other hand on her hip, tightening his grip on her hand in his too as he made sure she had her footing before letting go. Once she was sure-footed again, Felicity offered Oliver a sheepish smile as she stepped around him to retrieve her dress from where it still lay near the couches.

As she dressed and made herself presentable again, behind her Oliver disposed of the condom and cleaned himself up as well. As soon as she was ready and had retrieved her belongings, they left in silence and headed for the parking garage, both internally stewing over what to say to the other.

Reaching the garage and mentally readying herself to part ways with him, she turned to him and opened her mouth to speak only to find him giving her a look she didn't exactly know how to describe right now. "I'll... see you in the morning." Felicity began quietly, reluctantly bringing her eyes up to his intense gaze for this next part. "And, thank you again. For _everything_ , I mean. It was really... special." She admitted softly.

The corner of his lip twitched slightly into a smile as he held her gaze. "Good night, Felicity." He said, caressing each syllable of her name like it's the last time he'd ever say it. Getting caught up in his gaze, she had to blink a few times to break the spell. Offering one last smile, Felicity finally forced her feet to carry her to her car and away from the intoxicating man who seemed to have her under a spell.

There was so much they needed to discuss. But, for tonight, they would both get to hold onto the memory of that unforgettable encounter without the added burden of labeling what had just happened between them.

  
  


After possibly the best sleep of her young life, Felicity felt ready to tackle anything. Even working with Oliver Queen after their little escapade last night. The only hiccup she faced this morning was the discovery of a dark bruise on her inner thigh. That ass had actually marked her! Thank goodness it was in a discrete place, but she would know it was there and it would take everything in her power not to focus on it. Other than that, of course, she was ready to face the day.

A few hours after waking up, equipped with her favorite mint blue dress, her cutest nude heels, and a large cup of coffee in hand, Felicity walked out of the elevator onto the executive floor of Smoak Tech promptly at 8 am with confident strides.

Rounding the corner, however, her steps faltered only slightly as she caught sight of Oliver already hard at work at his desk. How did he always look so handsome, no matter what he was doing. Composing herself quickly, she slid her usual mask of professionalism back in place as she made her way to her office.

"Good morning, Ms. Smoak."

So much for her composure. Nearly jumping at her name, Felicity glanced to her left to see Oliver giving her a non-descript smile, his face also an attempted mask of indifference. "Good morning, Mr. Queen." She responded amicably, giving him a small smile before pushing open the glass door to her office.

Making her way over to her desk, she set her bag and coffee on the desk and plopped down in her chair. Something was off though. And she wasn't talking about the brief memories of the night before assaulting her the moment she laid eyes on her desk.

No, what was odd was that her desk was in pristine condition. She most certainly recalled that her papers and supplies that occupied the right side of her desk had been all over the floor last night. Maybe the cleaning people straightened up for her. Letting her eyes slide to the trash can, she spied the remnants of last night still there, including her sadly destroyed underwear.

Fighting the blush that threatened to consume her face, her brow furrowed as she tried to put the pieces together. Tracing her eyes over her desk, she noticed all of her things were impeccably organized... almost as if she had done it herself. _No way..._ she thought in shock as her eyes lifted to look for Oliver.

Instead, it seemed Oliver had beaten her to the punch because he was already waiting for her about a foot inside her office. Shamelessly, Felicity let her eyes momentarily drink in his presence. While admiring just how attractive her assistant was, more intense flashes of last night popped into her head, her body flushing at the memories and she quickly forced her eyes away from his body to meet his eyes to put a stop to those thoughts.

Bad idea. Albeit much more subdued this time, his eyes reflected the same look of desire that had been present last night, and the same desire she was sure her eyes reflected right back at him. It seemed that last night had opened the flood gates and their attempts at professionalism would no longer cut it.

They were so gonners.

Nervously sliding his hands into the pockets of his slacks, she watched Oliver's eyes trace around the room, starting at the couch before giving the desk a long look as he relived last night. Licking his lips, he brought his gaze back to her as a knowing smile graced his beautiful face.

"So, Ms. Smoak," He began hesitantly, "About last night..."


	2. The Start of Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Last Night is back baby!
> 
> I never expected to post this so soon, but so many eager calls for a sequel, and the fact that my brain instantly started dreaming up so many scenarios minutes after posting the first chapter made this all possible. And, because I'm not afraid of a little fan service every once in a while (*cough* Arrow writers *cough*), I was more than happy to give you another taste of this delicious AU. I just hope it lives up to the standards of the first chapter haha!
> 
> Enjoy guys ;)

_"So, Ms. Smoak," He began hesitantly, "About last night..."_

"Felicity! Sweetie!" An unfortunately familiar voice squealed, effectively interrupting Oliver, as the owner popped out from behind Oliver in all her blonde, effervescent, innocent glory. 

Felicity was instantly panic stricken, horror replacing the desire present in her gaze not moments ago and a deep blush stained her cheeks like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. While her panicked eyes sought Oliver's for comfort, she watched a brief flicker of disappointment pass over his face before a mischievous smile took it's place.

"Mom, hi. To what do I owe this surprise visit?" Felicity croaked out, shifting her panicked gaze to her unexpected visitor. Why did her mother have the worst timing ever?

Briefly ignoring Felicity's desperate question, Donna turned a devilish grin to Oliver. "Oliver, sweetie, so good to see you. Looking handsome as always. Right Felicity?" Donna observed, giving Oliver a sly smile before throwing an embarrassing wink to Felicity.

"Oh my god, Mom. Can you not?" Felicity groaned, her blush only deepening further.

A deep, rumbling chuckle slipped from Oliver's lips involuntarily, and Felicity was pretty sure it was because Oliver recently discovered how handsome Felicity thought he was, and Donna was none the wiser to this revelation. "It's lovely to see you again Mrs. Smoak." Oliver offered politely with a charming smile.

"Psh, Oliver, how many times have I told you to call me Donna? You're practically family now anyways." Donna said sweetly, patting Oliver's firm arm affectionately. After a beat of silence, Donna looked between the two and gasped. "Oh no, I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?" Donna asked innocently.

"No!" They both blurted out, well Felicity blurted it out. Oliver said it more calmly, but their simultaneous insistence definitely wasn't suspicious at all. Donna gave them both an innocently puzzled look, but before she could dwell on it further Oliver cleared his throat. "I'll leave you two to chat. You know where to find me if you need anything Felicity." Oliver offered, but the gaze that accompanied his simple statement that he directed at Felicity spoke volumes about what he was _really_ referring to. 

Gulping subtly, Felicity nodded as she tried to fight another blush from exposing where her thoughts really were. As soon as Oliver was gone and seated again at his desk, Donna rounded on Felicity with a critical eye. Shifting in her seat at the scrutiny, Felicity focused on keeping her features neutral because somehow her mother _always_ had a way of finding out the truth eventually.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you Mom, but I didn't think we had anything scheduled today." Felicity deflected, getting back to the point at hand.

Donna was instantly brought out of her musings, and she sent a big smile Felicity's way. "Right! I was hoping you could take an extended lunch with me today. We need to talk about the details of the board meeting coming up in two days, so I figured lunch and a little shopping would be the perfect opportunity!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together with a giddy smile.

Felicity sighed dejectedly, unfortunately her schedule was entirely empty so she couldn't refuse her mother's request. Especially since Donna wanted to talk about business during their outing. Packing her things up quickly, and shutting down her computers for the afternoon, Felicity reluctantly joined her mother. 

"Ready?" Donna asked eagerly, and Felicity nodded. "As I'll ever be." Felicity replied giving her mom a small smile before the pair departed. 

On her way by, Felicity paused at Oliver's desk, their eyes instantly meeting. "I'll be out for a few hours, so feel free to take a long lunch as well." Felicity explained with a soft smile. Oliver nodded and returned her smile before giving his classic charming smile to Donna. "Enjoy your lunch ladies."

Sharing one last look, Felicity was practically dragged away by her mother who was clearly eager to get their girl-time started. 

 

Felicity never thought she would ever say this, but thank goodness for her mother's interruption two days ago. It was like the veil lifted from her eyes the moment she left her office that morning, and Felicity suddenly realized the mistake she was about to make. She didn't know what she was thinking by entertaining the idea of going another round with Oliver when he walked into her office that morning. Letting anything happen between herself and Oliver again would only end in scandal, and Felicity refused to be a boss who has a full blown affair with her assistant, no matter how tempting the idea is.

As a result, Felicity suddenly became the master of avoidance and deflection with Oliver in the last 48 hours. But, that didn't stop Oliver from practically making her melt under his hot gaze whenever he got the chance. Nor did it stop him from completely distracting her during the board meeting to the point where she didn't remember anything that had been said or if she even made any sense when she was required to speak.

It was the closest proximity she'd allowed herself to be to Oliver since their encounter, and it wasn't by choice. Since it was Oliver's job to help her through the board meeting, they had no other choice but to sit next to each other. And Oliver took advantage of the opportunity to show Felicity how much he enjoyed being near her again.

It started with him scooting his chair a little closer to her's than necessary. He was just close enough that she could feel the heat from his body where their shoulder's were nearly touching and smell his peppery, spicy scent that wafted her way every once in awhile. Then, it was his left leg that he gently pressed against her right leg. It was the smallest of gestures, but the feel of even a bit of his body pressed against her again sent her mind reeling. _I have absolutely no self-control._ With determined focus, Felicity attempted to follow what was being said around her and occasionally chimed in, until Oliver made his next move that is.

After sitting in the meeting for an hour, just when Felicity had learned to cope with Oliver's presence next to her, she felt his fingertips brush the bare skin of her right thigh. Felicity subtly stiffened in her seat and shot him a glance out of the corner of her eye. Oliver, however, was diligently taking handwritten notes with his right hand, glancing around the table to each person when they spoke, and looked completely at ease. His only tell was that a corner of his mouth quirked up in the slightest of smiles. _Cheeky ass, he's lucky this isn't a glass meeting table_ , Felicity thought as she focused on paying attention.

With Felicity barely attempting to focus on the meeting, Oliver continued his ministrations. He lazily rubbed the back of his fingers over her thigh a few times in a tender gesture before slowly uncurling his fingers, ghosting them over her skin as he opened his hand up to gently grip her thigh. With his large hand resting on her thigh, Felicity's breathing deepened and her heart sped up at his touch. Damn her traitorous body. And he wasn't even really doing anything! His hand was just innocently resting on her thigh, not up the skirt of her dress.

Just as the meeting was concluding, Oliver slowly began to stroke his fingers over the sensitive skin of her inner thigh and her traitorous body couldn't help itself. Her thighs parted slightly and heat flashed through her at the intimacy of his touch. Not to mention his hand was nearly high enough to be lovingly stroking the bruise he left on her thigh that was still quite evident. It's like he was purposefully reminding her of that night.

"Thank you so much for another great meeting everyone, and I'll see you all next month." Felicity croaked out when it was finally her turn to bring the meeting to a close. She stood from the large table, making Oliver drop his hand from her thigh, and gave the room a smile before hastily gathering her things and dashing out of the conference room and away from Oliver.

Making it to the elevator, she glanced to her right to see if Oliver was following her, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. With a relieved sigh she stepped into the elevator and took it two floors up to the executive level. Thinking she was home free, Felicity relaxed the second she stepped off the elevator on her floor and made her way to her office.

Suddenly, she heard pounding footsteps coming up behind her and then she was being pulled into a dark room. With a squeal, Felicity brought her hand back and threw out a quick punch that connected with a suspiciously hard stomach. Her captor let out a small "Oof" at the impact, and Felicity hissed at the slight pain that shot through her hand.

The next second the lights were flicked on, and Felicity gasped and a hand flew to cover her mouth in shock. "Oliver! Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She gasped softly. When the realization finally dawned on her at what Oliver had done, she glared at him sharply and slapped his shoulder. "What in the world were you thinking?! This is not okay." She chastised quietly, but her voice didn't lack any of it's edge indicating how mad she was at him for pulling this stunt.

Turning to leave, a hand shot out and planted itself on the door right near her left ear before Felicity could even grab the handle to open the door. "Goddamit Felicity, stop running from me." Oliver breathed roughly into her ear, a slight growl slipping out.

In the cramped supply closet she found herself in, Oliver was practically curled around her, the heat of his body enveloping her, and with the sound of his low growl Felicity couldn't contain the involuntary shiver that went down her spine.

Mustering as much of her frustration and anger at him as she could, Felicity turned around to glare up at him with everything she had. As close as they were, Felicity had to press her back into the door to a) be able to even look Oliver in the eyes, and b) put some much needed distance between them. "So you think this is the answer? Trapping me in a supply closet so I'll talk to you?" Felicity accused, placing her hands on his chest to give him a rough shove, which barely made him move at all.

Instead, his eyes slid shut and a pained look of longing passed over his face at her touch. "Tell me you don't want this then, and you can go." Oliver offered when he opened his eyes again, but his eyes begged her to do anything other than what he had just asked of her. "For the record, I haven't stopped thinking about that night Felicity. I can't, is more like it." He whispered, letting his eyes roam her face, searching for something, anything to give him hope.

The hands that were still on his chest gripped his dress shirt roughly, and for a moment Felicity hesitated between trying to shove him away again and pulling him closer. "I know." Felicity finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I can't stop thinking about it either." She confessed. A little crease marring her brow as she chose her next words carefully. "But we just can't Oliver. You better than anyone should know why. The media, our parents, the boards of our respective companies, they'd be all over us if anyone even caught so much as a whiff of this. I'd be ruined, Oliver." Felicity explained, her eyes pleading with Oliver to understand where she was coming from.

Concern passed over his face, and he brought his right hand up to brush a stray curl behind her ear. "Hey, I'd never let that happen Felicity." He assuaged, his eyes full of genuine conviction.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Oliver." Felicity pleaded, leaning into his touch slightly as her fists gripped his shirt a little tighter, as if she were holding on for dear life now.

"Take a leap with me Felicity. I know you feel it too. I want to discover what this could be." Oliver appealed, letting his hand gently cradle her cheek. "And, I promise I'll be there to catch you if we fall." Oliver softly whispered as he dropped his forehead to rest against hers.

It was all too much. How did one man have the ability to make every logical thought leave her mind with just a few words and soft touches? Her heart stuttered at his appeal, and in a moment of hesitation she allowed herself to hope. _Maybe I'm not the only one who felt something the other night_ , she dared to think briefly. Tilting her head up, she brushed her nose against his, brought her lips to hover right over his own, and locked eyes with him. "Promise?" Felicity asked, her voice quivering with a mixture of uncertainty and desire.

"Promise." He whispered back, his bright blue eyes reflecting the truth that he really believed what he said.

As if that was the magic word, Felicity craned her neck up and crushed her lips to his while simultaneously pulling him closer with the hands that were still clutching his shirt.

A growl of desire ripped through Oliver's chest the moment their lips made contact. Automatically, both of his hands dropped to her waist and he easily lifted her up so she was pressed firmly against the door and his hips were flush with her own. In their new position, Felicity wrapped her legs around his waist and slid her hands up his chest to wind her arms around his neck, eagerly sliding one set of fingers back into his sinfully soft dirty blonde locks.

While their lips engaged in a carnal, unforgiving, desperate dance, Oliver and Felicity both began to rock their hips together in a steady rhythm, both seeking relief from the pent up sexual tension that had been building between them for the last two days.

Such and intense flash of desire coursed through Felicity at the feeling of Oliver's growing hardness brushing against her again that she couldn't help the loud moan she let out. Her only saving grace was that Oliver's lips muffled her noise. Breaking the kiss, Oliver's amused eyes connected with her dazed ones before he tilted his head down to pepper her neck with soft kisses. "We have to be quiet Felicity," he whispered against her neck. "We're not alone." He purred into her ear, nibbling on her earlobe slightly before giving it a gentle tug which sent yet another shiver down Felicity's spine.

In no mood for games this time, Felicity used the hand in his hair to tug his face back to her's, and she immediately crushed her lips to his again. Oliver smiled against her lips in appreciation and then parted his lips slightly, his tongue coming out to trace against her bottom lip. Felicity opened eagerly for him, her tongue coming out to meet his halfway in a wet, open-mouthed kiss as their tongues tangled together in a fierce dance.

Leaning most of his weight into his hips to pin her against the door more firmly, Oliver slid one hand from her waist to cup under her thigh. He slowly slid that hand up until his fingers met the thin fabric of her thong. Gently pushing the fabric aside, he traced two fingers up and down her already soaking wet lips, earning a sharp intake of breath from Felicity.

Breaking their kiss momentarily to catch her breath, Felicity could feel Oliver's intense eyes roaming over her flushed face even though her eyes remained shut while she tried to calm herself. Oliver gave her no reprieve this time around, sliding his two fingers into her without hesitation at the same time as he rocked his hips into hers, causing his erection to brush against her clit. Felicity dropped her head back against the door, gripping her bottom lip roughly with her teeth in an effort to remain quiet.

With his eyes trained on her face, drinking in all of her little reactions, Oliver set to work stroking his fingers in and out of her while grinding his hips against her in time with his movements. The combined sensations caused Felicity's mouth to fall open, a look of absolute pleasure settling over her face as her breath came out in hot, needy pants. "So beautiful." Oliver whispered reverently as he soaked in the image before him.

His soft words and the emotions hidden behind them sent Felicity careening over the edge. Oliver continued to grind against her, adding a little more force as he felt her walls beginning to flutter around his fingers as they continued pumping into her to coax her orgasm from her. Seconds later, Oliver smashed his lips against hers just before Felicity's walls clamped down hard on his fingers, barely managing to swallow the loud moan in time that ripped from Felicity's mouth as she came around his fingers.

Oliver's body stilled against her, letting Felicity come down from her high as he slowly danced his lips against hers to show his appreciation for how beautiful that moment was, despite the carnality of it. Slowly extracting his lips from hers, her head drooped forward slightly to rest on his chest as she attempted to slow her erratic breathing.

Feeling Oliver slide his fingers out of her, Felicity looked up at him again and whimpered slightly at the loss of contact. Grinning at how adorable she was, Oliver brought that hand up to lick his fingers clean and get his first taste of her. A hum of appreciation vibrated in his chest as his dark eyes locked with hers again to show her just how much he enjoyed her taste on his tongue.

That look in his eyes, watching him taste herself on his fingers, and his clear enjoyment instantly made her wet again, something she didn't know was even possible after the intense orgasm she experienced only moments earlier. Oliver picked up on the flash of desire in her eyes and he couldn't help but smirk. Brushing his nose against hers, he dropped his head down to hers. "There's my naughty girl." He whispered before capturing her lips in another set of long, lazy kisses that had her whimpering against his lips, hungry for more.

Reaching a hand between them, he quickly undid his slacks and shimmied out of them until they were around his ankles. A sigh of relief ripped from his lips when he pushed his boxer briefs down, letting his straining erection pop out, and in the process it flicked against Felicity's wet, thong-covered lips, both of them moaning at the contact.

Watching Felicity come undone around his fingers, and seeing how eager she already was for what came next had Oliver channeling everything he had into not savagely taking her right then and there. In a moment of clarity before his inner animal took over, he began to shift away slightly to set her down so he could put a condom on, but Felicity just tightened her legs around his hips, refusing to budge. He leaned his head back slightly to fix her with a puzzled look.

"Pill, and I trust you." She breathed out before grinding against him to urge him on. There was still some uncertainty in his gaze though. "Dammit Oliver, I need you, now." She whispered forcefully, and that seemed to be all it took.

Shifting slightly until he knew he wouldn't drop her, he used one hand to pull her thong to the side and another to guide himself into her slick entrance. Clenching his teeth together tightly, he tilted his hips up and finally buried himself to the hilt inside of her. "Oh..." Felicity breathed out in satisfaction as she felt her walls stretching to eagerly welcome him again.

Wasting no time, Oliver began to desperately thrust in and out of her. After getting a taste of her just a few days ago, his body had been buzzing to indulge in her intoxicating presence again, and now that it was happening he was barely in control of himself. "Fe-li-ci-ty..." He stuttered out as pleasure took control of his body. His eyes screwed shut, his hands clenched around her waist, his thrusts became more fervent, and his erratic breaths fanned over her skin in hot pants, that when they made contact with the sheen of sweat starting to form sent a shiver through Felicity. 

There was nothing sensual or exploratory about this. Unlike last time, this was fueled by nothing but desperate need for the other. Every kiss, every touch, every thrust, every muffled moan was an almost poetic expression of that need as they both lost themselves in the other for these few precious stolen moments. They had unleashed an untamable beast inside each other a few nights ago, and now it would only be satisfied by the touch of the other.

Through his furious thrusting, Felicity brought a hand around to cup his jaw, her fingers gently stroking his rough stubble. "Let go." She moaned out quietly.

His eyes popped open at her soft request, and for a moment he looked so overcome by his desire that he had an almost wild look in his eyes. Clenching his jaw in determination, his eyes stayed locked with her's as he fluidly thrust in and out of her with a wild abandon. Biting down on her lip hard, Felicity had to roughly swallow a loud moan that nearly bubbled to the surface from the effect of holding his gaze while he practically fucked her into the next century. With one gaze he made her feel so desired, like she was the only thing he saw.

In spite of his best attempts, his eyes eventually fluttered shut, and she felt his jaw clench roughly under her palm. Sensing that the end was near, she gently guided him forward with her palm and brought her lips to his again. Suddenly, his rapid thrusts turned into sharp, erratic ones and she felt his whole body tense around her.

With a long, low moan into Felicity's mouth, Oliver's thrusts became slow rolls of his hips as he spilled himself inside of her. As the tension released from his body, he finally moved his lips against her's as they shared one final lazy kiss while Felicity tenderly stroked his jaw as if coaxing the tension from him herself.

With the adrenaline slowly seeping away, Oliver's tired legs began to shake beneath them. Using what little strength he had left, holding her tightly, he flipped them around so his back was against the door and slid down to the floor with Felicity safely straddling his lap just before his legs collapsed under him.

Oliver dropped his head back against the door and let out a sigh of relief while his hands absentmindedly stroked her thighs. Realizing what happened, Felicity let out a giggle as she buried her face in his neck to muffle it. "You okay?" She asked once she had her giggling under control again. 

"Never better." He breathed out, and even though she couldn't see his face she could hear the smile tugging at his lips.

When Felicity finally found some of her own strength again, she slowly righted herself and reappeared from his neck with a very satisfied smile. "If it's going to be this good every time, I guess I wouldn't be opposed to continuing." She shyly admitted, a small blush staining her cheeks.

Still stroking the skin of her thighs appreciatively, he sent her a proud grin. "You won't hear me complaining." He whispered cheekily, unable to stop smiling.

Fixing him with a playful glare, she gently hit his chest to admonish his cheeky behavior. _He doesn't need a bigger ego that he already has_ , she joked to herself. Taking a deep breath and placing her hands on his chest for balance, Felicity slowly eased herself up off the floor until she was standing in front of him. While tugging down her dress and attempting to smooth out some out some of the wrinkles, Oliver slowly peeled himself up off the floor. As he tucked himself back into his boxer briefs and pulled his pants back up, Felicity continued to right her appearance by taking a moment to redo her wild hair and attempt to wipe off the lipstick smudges she was sure were all around her lips.

Straightening up, Felicity glanced at Oliver with a small smirk. "I suggest you get back to work before your boss discovers you've been missing for quite awhile, Mr. Queen." She suggested quietly, a playful grin dancing in her eyes as she stepped around him to take her leave.

Putting the finishing touching on making himself look semi-presentable again, Oliver huffed out a laugh. "Of course, right away Ms. Smoak." He retorted with his own grin, but his eyes still held the muted remnants of his desire.

Holding his captivating gaze for just a moment longer, she shared a secretive smile with him. "Until next time." She whispered longingly before opening the door, sliding out of the supply closet, and becoming Felicity Smoak the CEO again, instantly leaving behind the side of herself that was only meant for Oliver's eyes now.


	3. A Taste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hello again!
> 
> I swear I originally had no plans to come back to this beyond that second chapter, but something about this story/concept keeps drawing me back in. Especially after finding out that this week's Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon prompt was Taste ;). Originally I wrote this during the three week Arrow hiatus at the end of this season, so it's fitting that I've decided to continue it as part of the summer hiatus!
> 
> Because I can't seem to stay away, I've decided to leave this story "incomplete" for the time being! Unfortunately, it's not officially becoming a multi-chapter story, but rather it'll be like a series of related smutty one-shots with a little bit of plot on the side that I plan on adding to periodically over the hiatus.
> 
> Since the theme of this chapter is Taste, and because I love a good gif, here are a few gifs to set the mood:
> 
> Enjoy ;)

Just after 9 pm, an absolutely exhausted Oliver finally returned to his hotel suite. Scrubbing a hand over his tired face, he made his way through the living room area to the adjoining bedroom. Eager to get comfortable after such a long day, he quickly toed off his dress shoes, tossed his suit jacket on the bed, and pulled his white button-up out of his pants and deftly unbuttoned it.

The reason for his long day? As her Executive Assistant, Oliver was away in Metropolis on a business trip with Felicity. They were visiting a potential site for Smoak Tech.'s first ever East Coast satellite location. Not only that, but they were talking with other local tech companies, visiting with several of Felicity's donors in the area, and seeking out new donors local to the area to support construction of the East Coast office. They had just finished up day three of four, and each day seemed longer than the last with how packed their schedules were from their first engagement at 10 am until their dinner with another of Felicity's current donors that always ended around 9 pm.

With a sigh, Oliver begrudgingly made his way to the bathroom. He knew he needed to shower before he got too comfortable and accidentally ended up falling asleep fully clothed. Turning on the water in the luxury glass shower, Oliver shed the remainder of his clothes while waiting for the water to warm up.

Stepping under the warm rainfall-like spray, Oliver let out a sigh as he let the relaxing warmth wash over his tense and tired muscles. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to just let the water work it's magic while he let his mind wander.

First this his mind went to: Felicity. 

His lips twitched in a brief smile at the thought of her.

They started their fling, if you could call it that, almost a month ago now. He still couldn't believe that it was real sometimes. Sure, he had been insanely attracted to her when his parents first introduced them and eventually went to work for her – he would have to be blind to find her unattractive. He knew she clearly found him attractive too, as evidenced by the countless babbles his presence induced over the first few weeks he worked with her. But, he promised himself that he wouldn't touch her out of respect. The old Ollie Queen wouldn't have hesitated to try and seduce her on day one, maybe even made a sport out of it, but Oliver turned over a new leaf when he agreed to go work for Felicity and vowed to be a better man.

Then... that night happened, almost a month ago now. Unconsciously licking his lips at the memory, he could still recall every detail with perfect clarity. He could still remember how surprised he was when she so hesitantly climbed onto his lap, and how instantly it was like something unlocked inside of him and he knew he couldn't resist her any longer. That first taste of her was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. From the taste of her skin, to the taste of her sweet lips, he was hooked. He wanted more... needed more of her after that. Just thinking about it caused his dick to harden slightly. She was absolutely intoxicating, and he never wanted to stop tasting her.

Over the last month they fooled around so frequently he lost count. This business trip was the first time they had gone more than a day without doing at least something together. All physical contact had essentially come to a halt while they were on this trip. Felicity suggested it, since she didn't want anyone to have any idea that they were more than CEO and EA, and Oliver reluctantly agreed. They hadn't even seen each other at night. Mostly because Oliver and Felicity were so tired from their long days, but Felicity also felt even that was risky. Though Oliver was beyond frustrated, being in such close quarters without being able to so much as touch her hand or shoulder, he understood her concerns and wouldn't dare deny her request.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he forced himself to ignore his growing problem induced by his thoughts of Felicity. He knew it wasn't bad to just go ahead and take care of himself, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do it. He only wanted Felicity, and it felt wrong to betray her like that. Reminding himself that there was only one more day left of this business trip from hell, Oliver forced his thoughts away from Felicity to quickly finish his shower.

About 10 minutes later, as it was finally nearing 10 pm, Oliver stepped out of the steamy bathroom in a towel and went to grab some boxers to sleep in. Just as he had his boxers in hand, a meek knock met his ears. Tossing his towel on the floor and slipping the boxers on hastily as he made his way to the door, Oliver glanced through the peephole when he finally reached the door. A soft smile tugged at his lips as he slowly opened the door so he didn't seem too eager.

"Hey." He whispered into the quiet hallway.

He couldn't believe she was here. His hungry eyes roamed the petite figure before him. She looked so incredibly small without her heels, and the oversized Dr. Who shirt she was wearing over her sleep shorts made her look even smaller. Still, he'd never seen anyone more beautiful than the woman before him.

After his own perusal, while he stood casually in the doorway waiting for Felicity to answer, he watched Felicity's own eyes examine his nearly naked figure. He watched the desire slowly tint her usually bright blue eyes until they were almost midnight blue. He watched her chest start rising and falling a little faster. He focused on the way she bit her lower lip ever so slightly, as if she just couldn't wait to taste him but forced herself to hold back.

Finally, her eyes lazily made their way up to his own. The second her gaze met his, he quirked an eyebrow in a silent question. He wanted to be sure she was okay with breaking their pact for this weekend. There was no doubt he wanted her, but Felicity was the one that had to give the okay.

Her dark, dilated pupils held his gaze for a long time until a look of pure determination joined the hunger in her eyes. Stepping up to him, she placed her hands on his smooth, bare chest and gently pushed. In understanding, he took a few steps backwards into the room to match her forward steps, letting the door come to a firm close behind them.

For about a minute after the door had already shut, officially hiding them from any prying eyes, they just stared at each other with hungry eyes. Oliver's hands twitched at his side and his cock was already hardening again in anticipation. After what seemed like an eternity, her lips parted in the most beautiful toothy grin as she slid her hands up his chest until her arms were linked around his neck and her body was pressed against his. Instinctually, his hands went under her ass to lift her up, her legs wrapping around his waist of their own accord. Carefully, he walked them over to his huge bed and gently sat down so Felicity was in still his lap.

Softly, once they were situated, Felicity dropped her forehead against his, her eyes sliding shut as she looked to be taking a minute to savor this. "I missed you." Felicity whispered, her warm breath fanning over his face.

He smiled at that, and his heart swelled a little. There was something more to her words than just her missing the sexual aspect of whatever this thing was, and he couldn't deny how excited that made him. "I missed you too." He echoed, his thumbs tracing small circles on her bare thighs and earning a delicious shiver from Felicity.

Her eyes finally cracked open after another minute and she gave him an impatient look. "Kiss me." She demanded.

Like a man finding water in a barren desert, he dove in eagerly for a thirst quenching taste of her lips. There was nothing sweet about the kiss as their lips clashed hungrily. Both had been desperate for a taste of the other after three excruciating days of celibacy. Oliver tightened his fingers around her thighs, pulling her closer until they were flush. When Felicity gasped at the pleasurable contact, Oliver gently deepened the kiss, letting his tongue taste every nook and cranny of her. He just couldn't get enough.

When her tongue fought back against his, Oliver gladly relented and let her take over. Felicity wanted to taste him, and there was no way he was about to deny her. They went back and forth like that for another minute, both taking turns just tasting the other, until they needed to break away for air. Pulling back and panting slightly, his eyes met hers and he cracked a small smile. Her own lips twitched into a small smile as her eyes eagerly roamed his face like she was trying to commit every detail to memory. Bringing one hand up from her thigh, he gently brushed a few strands of hair away from her face, tucking them behind her ear. Cupping her face just as softly, he pressed his lips against her's more gently this time.

With his thumb gently tracing her cheek, he moved his lips gently against Felicity's in a series of soft, lingering kisses, taking his time and appreciating this moment. Felicity had other ideas though. She slid one hand into his still slightly damp hair trying to get him to deepen the kiss, and arched her back into him, grinding down on his erection in an attempt to spur him on.

He couldn't help but huff out a soft laugh against her lips as he smiled into their kiss. "Slow down tiger." He teased, capturing her lower lip between his teeth and giving it a firm tug.

He knew exactly how to push her buttons because Felicity immediately growled in response. "How about you hurry up." She suggested, grinding against him again for emphasis. Inhaling deeply, he brought both hands down to her hips and gripped them firmly in an attempt to quell her movements. After not having this for days, he wanted to savor this and take his time when he brought her to climax. He didn't want just rushed sex.

Then, an idea popped into his head. He wanted to worship her tonight, to thank her for showing up on his doorstep, and he knew exactly how to go about it. Pulling away from her lips, Oliver deftly rearranged them until Felicity was sitting with her back facing the bed and Oliver was on his knees in front of her. She gave him a puzzled look, and he silently responded with a look asking her to play along.

Grabbing the hem of her oversized shirt, he gently lifted it over her head, groaning softly when he saw that she was sans bra. "You're going to be the death of me, Felicity." He growled with a lick of his lips as he eyed her full breasts. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he brought a hand up to gently press on her shoulder, silently telling her to lean back. When she did as he asked, he unfolded himself so he was laying over her now with his hips settled between her legs.

Pressing a chaste kiss to her lips, Oliver then proceeded to quickly change course and started nibbling, kissing, and gently sucking at the sensitive skin on her neck. He felt Felicity shift under him, lacing one hand through his hair again, the other caressing his muscled back, and one leg coming up to wrap around one of his in an attempt to press his hips closer to hers. "I want to taste you tonight." He whispered into her neck between a series of kisses. "I want to show you just how grateful I am that you're allowing me to be with you like this. Tonight is about you."

He heard a brief gasp from her, and he couldn't be sure if it was his words or his lips that caused it. Whichever it was, he didn't care. He just loved to hear those little noises of pleasure she always made when they were together. Grinning cheekily, he extracted his face from her neck and captured her lips in a searing kiss that had Felicity arching into him, searching for more.

Pulling away, but not before pressing one last brief kiss to her lips, Oliver slowly trailed lazy, open-mouthed kisses down her neck again.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered, pressing a kiss where her jaw meets her neck.

"I love the way you taste..." Another soft kiss on her jugular.

"...the way you moan for me..." A lingering kiss at the base of her neck, and a throaty moan from Felicity.

"…the way you react to my touch..." A nibble and kiss on her collar bone as he cupped one of her breasts in his large palm, brushing the pert nipple with his thumb. Instantly, Felicity's back arched into his touch like he knew it would.

"Oliver... please." She moaned loudly, her body starting to writhe under him impatiently.

He grinned against her chest as he kissed his way down the smooth expanse of skin. "… and the way only I know exactly how to make you fall apart." He growled out before finally capturing a nipple between his lips.

"Fuck." Felicity gasped sharply, her lips falling open into a small "o" as she arched into his mouth.

Oliver felt a flash of desire course through him at her reaction to such a simple touch. Humming against her nipple appreciatively, he continued to suck, nip and lick at the bud until it was swollen and red while his hand on her other breast simultaneously fondled and caressed it. With each touch, Felicity writhed under him and mewled pleasurably, her hands frantically gripping his hair, his shoulder, his arms, anything they could find for some kind of purchase as the sensations Oliver was creating overwhelmed her.

Tenderly kissing his way over to her other nipple, Oliver immediately went to work on the ready and waiting bud, making sure it received the same delicious treatment as the other nipple. "Oliver." She breathed out through another moan, rolling her hips against him for some sort of relief.

Grinning against her breast without stopping his ministrations, he placed a hand on her hip, gently pinning her eager body to the bed. Whimpering impatiently, Felicity attempted to move under his firm grip but was easily held in place. "Damn it Oliver." She growled, but he didn't immediately move to give her the relief she sought so desperately.

Still working her breast, he slowly rubbed the rough pad of his thumb in torturously slow circles over her hip bone. Glancing up to her for the first time in a while, his eyes met her frustrated gaze. Holding that gaze, he grinned against her skin as he slowly slid his large hand across her stomach, rolling slightly to his left for better access. He paused his hand's movements just as he was poised to finally give her the relief she sought, his intense eyes holding her gaze as he stroked the soft skin of her stomach, purposefully prolonging her torture.

He watched her clench her teeth together in frustration, her dark eyes daring him, no begging him to touch her as she tilted her hips towards his hand. With a smirk, Oliver slowly slid his hand into her shorts, bypassing her clit completely and sliding his middle finger slowly across her already wet lips, dipping the tip in slightly to tease her a bit more. Releasing her nipple with a soft pop, he took a moment to watch just her reaction to that small touch. His hooded eyes stayed trained hungrily on her face, and he watched as her eyes slid shut, the first loud moan bursting forth as her head tilted back, her whole body nearly arching off the bed when he dragged his finger over her sex. With his breaths coming out in soft puffs against her breast, his mouth still hovering just over her body, he dared to stroke her one more time. Instantly, her fingers gripped his hair and arm almost painfully as she arched into his touch again.

Grinning slightly, he placed one last kiss on each nipple while extracting his hand from her pants. Glancing up at her, he saw the frustration return to her features, her fiery eyes glaring down at him. "I swear to god, Oliver, you better have a good reason for stopping." 

With a small grin and a knowing wink, he sucked on his lower lip briefly before shifting his body further down the bed and placing the first kiss on the flat expanse of her stomach. Eagerly, Oliver curled his fingers into the waistband of her shorts and tugged them down as he slowly kissed down her stomach towards his ultimate goal.

Lifting her hips, Felicity let him pull her shorts down. Pausing in his movements, Oliver sat up on his haunches and helped her discard her shorts, throwing them haphazardly onto the floor. With Felicity completely bared to him and spread out lusciously on his bed, Oliver took a second to appreciate the goddess before him. With a soft smile, he touched his fingertips to the outside of her ankle and slowly traced them up her smooth leg, his hooded eyes tracing the path of his fingers. Slowly blinking, he turned his gaze back to her, his eyes searching hers hesitantly – something he hadn't done since that first night they were together.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly got back down onto his stomach between her legs, hooking her legs over his broad shoulders until she was spread out before him. Pressing a soft kiss on the inside of her right thigh, he wrapped one hand around that thigh and the other came up to rest on her hip, his fingers gently stroking the skin there again. "Is this okay?" He asked softly against her skin, his hesitant eyes searching her out again. This was the one thing Oliver had yet to try with her, and Oliver knew it was uncomfortable for some women. As desperate as he was to bring Felicity pleasure like this, it was more important that she was comfortable.

Her eyes glinted briefly with anticipation as she gave him a small nod while holding his gaze, making sure he knew it was okay. "Yes." She practically moaned out, her hips surging up in a silent call for him to get down to business.

Breathing out a soft sigh of relief, Oliver's brief worry disappeared and was replaced by a nearly predatory smile now. He was going to make her scream his name. Licking his lips in anticipation, he watched her hands grip the bed sheets, her breath hitching slightly when he pressed the first kiss against her leg again. 

At an achingly slow pace, Oliver kissed his way closer and closer to her ready and waiting core. Hovering just over her wetness when he finally got there, his eyes drifted up to her intent gaze that was watching his every move. The longer he waited, his hot breath panting against her sensitive skin, the more her thighs quivered against his shoulders in anticipation. Still holding her gaze, he slowly lowered his head, his tongue peaking out slightly and parting her folds to trace a tight circle around her already engorged clit.

Her whole body quivered around him at that first touch, Felicity's hips eagerly arching up into his face, her eyes snapping shut in pleasure. "Shit." She moaned loudly, her hands tightening even further around the sheets. 

With eager, hungry eyes trained on her face, drinking in every little moan, gasp, arch of her back, and thrust of her hips, he continued working his tongue over her clit, trying to draw more and more of those little reactions from her. He circled his tongue, laid it flat over her, flicked his tongue back and forth, and then closed his lips around the small nub and sucked roughly, greedily cataloging the way she reacted to each type of stimulation.

"Oh my god... Oliver!" She gasped out when he sucked on the nub, one of her hands flying into his hair, gripping his short locks tightly between her fingers as she rocked her hips against his face in time with his sucking. When her rocking became more frantic, Oliver knew she was close, but he still had other ideas so he abruptly released her clit from his lips. He huffed out a laugh when he heard her strangled and frustrated groan. "If you keep playing games..." She gasped out, struggling to catch her breath. "… don't think I won't walk out of... Oh!" She squeaked out.

Oliver had placed a soft kiss over her highly stimulated clit before gently dragging his lips down until he finally reached her opening. What made Felicity stop her sentence so abruptly was Oliver's tongue spreading her folds as he finally, truly tasted her for the first time. He curled his tongue into her, tracing along the length of her opening at a torturously slow pace.

"Oh..." She breathed out again, her back arching completely off the bed as her head fell limply against the pillows again, all of her previous protests quickly dying on her lips.  
Extracting his tongue momentarily, he gently grazed his teeth over the sensitive skin, earning a sharp tilt of her hips in response. He could tell she was still close to the edge, and, as much fun as he was having teasing her, he was becoming just as eager as she was to bring her over that edge.

Sliding his hand off her hip, he sought out her hand that was still wrapped around the sheets. Gently sliding his fingers between her hand and the sheets, he intertwined their hands before getting back to work.

"Fe-li-ci-ty..." He growled against her sex. Her eyes, though completely fogged over with pleasure, managed to find his again. "I want you to watch me." He commanded gruffly, dipping his tongue into her for a second taste.

Though her eyes tried to flutter shut at his touch, she bit her lower lip hard and forced her eyes to stay open and trained on his.

"Good girl." He growled, desire swelling inside of him at the thought of her eyes watching him as he sought to bring her to her peak.

With a renewed vigor, Oliver slid his tongue between her folds and just past her entrance. He worked his tongue furiously inside of her, undulating it against her skin that was slick with her desire, the tip of his tongue just managing to reach that magic spot just inside of her. He alternated between that sucking on her clit again, knowing that would bring her over the edge quickly. With his eyes locked with her own that were still watching his every move intently, he watched as she slowly fell apart.

This was his favorite part; watching her orgasm so intensely and knowing he was the one to make her let go like that.

Her fingers squeezed his where their hands were intertwined on the bed beside them. Her breathing picked up as a slight flush colored her cheeks. Her hips rocked sporadically against his face. Still trying her hardest to keep her eyes on him, her eyes unfocused slightly as she neared her peak. When Oliver noticed how close she really was, he drove his tongue into her dripping core one last time, furiously licking the spongy spot that he knew would send her over the edge, timing his strokes with her undulating hips, and humming against her skin for additional stimulation.

Finally, her eyes slammed shut and her teeth dug into her lower lip painfully as her orgasm started to wash over her. Uncurling her fingers from his hair, she cupped the back of his head, pressing him deeper as she bucked wildly against his tongue.

"Oliver! Fuck, yes, Oliver... oh my god!" She nearly screamed.

Her whole body arched off the bed, her heels digging hard into the mattress, her thighs squeezing his face gently and quivering from both pleasure and exhaustion as she came on his tongue. Her walls fluttered around him as he continued to trace her folds, although more tenderly now as he let her ride out her orgasm.

Entirely spent after that overwhelming orgasm, once the waves of pleasure slowed to a quiet hum she went limp against the bed. Her hand clutching his relaxed completely in his grip, her legs falling open on either side of him, and her head collapsing sleepily onto the pillow behind her.

Smiling at how utterly satiated Felicity looked, Oliver turned his head slightly to press a few lingering kisses on the inside of her left thigh, gently nipping and sucking at the soft flesh where he usually liked to leave his mark on her as he let her come down from her high.

As she started to come to, he felt her fingers still on the back of his head begin to lazily card through his longer than usual hair. His eyes slid shut at her touch and he hummed appreciatively against her thigh.

Slowly, her hand came around to cup his jaw, still slightly damp with her juices. He turned to look at her with a lazy smile, both just silently staring at the other, neither of them feeling the need to speak for now.

After a minute, his smile dropped into a more apologetic look. "I'll be right back. I just need to... clean up and take care of a few things." He said softly.

A look of sudden realization passed over her face and she propped herself up slightly. "Oh my god, Oliver... I wasn't even thinking." She panicked slightly, her eyes darting down to where Oliver was still hiding his raging erection between himself and the bed.

He laughed quietly and shook his head against her thigh. "Don't worry about me. Tonight was about you." He reminded her. Pressing one last soft kiss against her thigh, he slowly sat up and climbed off the bed before Felicity could try and resist his request. Once he was standing though, his full erection proudly on display through his boxers that did nothing to conceal it, he saw the spark of desire flare to life again in Felicity's eyes. He gave her a playfully stern look and shook his head at her. "Later. Just relax for now, you're more tired than you think." He said knowingly before making his way into the bathroom.

About five minutes later, after he cleaned himself up and managed to get his erection somewhat under control, Oliver quietly exited the bathroom with a warm wash cloth in hand. Making his way over to the bed, his breath nearly left him at the sight that greeted him. A completely naked Felicity was sprawled out on his bed, her messy blonde hair fanned out on the pillow behind her, looking so relaxed in her half-asleep state, and the evidence of his ministrations starting to show themselves across her body.

She was so beautiful.

Realizing he had probably been staring for too long, he gently climbed back onto the bed, laying on his right side next to her, using his right arm to prop himself up slightly. Carefully, his brow scrunching up slightly in concentration, Oliver applied the warm wash cloth to her swollen and messy sex, gently cleaning her while letting the warmth of the towel alleviate the beard burns he knew he had left there. Just as he was finishing up, Felicity stirred next to him, her bleary eyes blinking open and instantly finding his.

His lips started to curl up into a soft smile for her, but instantly morphed into a confused look when she sat up quickly, looking around the room frantically. "I should go." She confessed quietly, moving to climb out of the bed.

Oliver's heart clenched slightly at the suggestion. He couldn't let her leave. He didn't _want_ her to leave. Nothing would make this night better other than being able waking up next to her in the morning. Without another moment's hesitation, his left hand shot out and grabbed her hand closest to him. He had to try.

"Stay... please." He pleaded quietly.

She stiffened next to him, but at least she didn't move to get away from him either. Eventually, she turned to look at him, her hesitant eyes searching his face for a long time. They had never spent a night together. Hell, they had never even had an encounter in a bed until tonight. So, there was something infinitely more intimate about this moment and what he was asking of her, but Oliver didn't care. It felt right.

Just when Oliver thought he was going to go crazy waiting for her response, her whole body relaxed slightly. She nodded slightly, a tiny smile tugging at her lips momentarily. He knew she was still a bit hesitant, but he was just happy she agreed to stay.

"Can I at least put my clothes back on?" She asked, only half joking as she attempted to lighten the mood and probably distract herself from how nervous staying the night made her.

Oliver shook his head adamantly, his eyes grazing over her completely naked figure, his still half-hard cock twitching in his boxers in appreciation. "Not a chance. I prefer you naked." He grinned cheekily, his desirous gaze shifting up to her eyes so she could see how serious he actually was.

He saw her eyes flicker down to his cock briefly before quickly focusing on the bed, suddenly becoming shy under the heat of his gaze. Clearing her throat, Felicity made to get up again, but Oliver gently tugged on her hand with a slight confusion in his eyes. Slipping her hand out of his, she gave him a reassuring smile over her shoulder. "I can use the bathroom too, you know." She joked, making her way into the bathroom.

Now he felt like an idiot. He chuckled at himself a bit as he laid back on the bed, his eyes never leaving her backside as he watched her go. Once she was out of sight, he let his eyes slide shut as he waited for her to return, a slight smile lingering on his lips.

He didn't know how long she was gone, but sometime later he felt the bed dip next to him as she climbed back in. Rolling his head to the side and opening his eyes again, he saw her laying on her left side facing him, but she had laid down about a foot away from him. His brows pinched together subtly, slightly disappointed that she was so far away.

"Thank you... for tonight that is." She whispered.

He smiled and shrugged as he rolled onto his right side to face her fully. "No, thank you." He responded, reaching out a hand and gently tracing his fingertips along the curve of her body, his eyes leaving hers briefly to follow the path of his fingers. She shivered under his touch, her eyes fluttering shut momentarily. When her eyes opened again, he could see that some hesitancy had returned to her gaze. Gently biting down on her already slightly bruised lip, a familiar small crinkle formed between her brows that told him she was contemplating something.

Slowly, the crease in her brow faded, her eyes dropping to his bare chest as she slowly inched herself closer to him. Watching her intently, Oliver happily let her curl up against his body. He gently slid his hand from her hip around to her back, pulling her close to his body as she slipped one of her legs between his so she could get as close as possible to him. She rested her forehead against his chest, and he brought his chin down to rest gently against the top of her head.

After a few minutes of just laying wrapped up in each other, neither daring to speak a word, Oliver felt Felicity's breaths slow to small warm puffs against his chest and he knew she'd fallen asleep.

Waiting a few more minutes to make sure she was really asleep, he tilted his head down and pressed his nose into her hair, his eyes sliding shut as he held that position for a moment. Pressing a soft kiss into her hair, he smiled almost sadly. "Good night, Felicity."


	4. Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this happened sooner than I thought haha! I really didn't expect to have another update for you guys so soon, but one night a while back my brain just went into overdrive and now I have this chapter plus two more already outlined. Yay sudden bursts of inspiration! 
> 
> On a slightly related note... drum roll please... I have a Tumblr!!! I'm on Tumblr under the same handle, so come follow me! I'm hoping to post sneak peaks of chapters for this story as well as _We loved with a love that was more than love_ , post answers for everyone to see if you guys have any burning asks about my fics, and just contribute to the lovely Olicity fandom in general. Anddd there may or may not be a special something on there for this fic already ;) 
> 
> Enjoy the new chapter guys! Let's just say, Felicity initiates things... and we all love when our girl takes what she wants. 
> 
>  
> 
> *NOTE: Looking back at the first version of this I posted, I noticed that you guys were missing about half of the chapter!! There was a lot of really juicy and important stuff you guys missed in the text that got cut. I'm sure you guys were really confused when the scene cut so suddenly at the break, so I'm reposting the complete chapter. This is why you should never update a chapter at 3 in the morning kids hahaha.

Felicity gave the bartender a sweet smile as she accepted her umpteenth glass of wine tonight before turning around to face the crowded room again, leaning back against the bar for support. Sipping on the wine, her eyes instantly found the one person she almost didn't want to see.

Across the large lobby of Queen Consolidated, temporarily retrofitted for tonight's gala, Felicity's eyes fell on Oliver, looking unbelievably handsome in his tuxedo. The only problem: the gaggle of young, socialite girls that had been following him around all night, touching him, and openly flirting with him without shame. What made her chest constrict painfully, and not for the first time tonight, was that Oliver was almost encouraging them. She didn't need to hear what he was saying to know that either. It was in the way he held their gazes, threw a charming smile or two their way, or his brief touches on their arms.

She knew she had no right to feel so possessive over him – they were technically nothing more than fuck buddies after all-, but she couldn't help the feelings that bubbled up inside of her at the sight. That feeling is actually what bothered her most, causing her brow scrunch up and lips to subconsciously pull together into a small frown.

"Felicity, how are you liking my son?"

A voice pulled her from her thoughts, and for a second the question as it was phrased felt like a bucket of ice water being dumped on her. There's no way she could know...  
"Mrs. Queen?" Felicity asked curiously, looking for clarification as she turned to her new companion with a neutral yet somewhat confused look.

Moira smiled slightly, her knowing eyes observing Felicity carefully. Felicity liked Moira, she had known the Queen matriarch for years now, but Felicity did not like that look. It made her stomach lurch nervously. "I just meant, how is it working out with my son as your Executive Assistant? I trust his performance is adequate." She clarified.

Clearing her throat nervously, Felicity took a sip of wine to give herself some time to collect herself before answering. "Oh, absolutely. You should be very proud of him, Mrs. Queen. He'll make and excellent CEO for Queen Consolidated one day." Felicity offered with a smile.

Moira returned Felicity's smile with a cool smile of her own, nodding pensively as she glanced over to her son. Felicity couldn't help but follow her gaze, her brow creasing again as he leaned in to whisper into one of the girls' ears. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Moira continued after a pause.

Felicity, quickly remembering where she was and who she was with, looked back at Moira with a composed smile again. "What do you mean?" Felicity asked curiously, keeping her tone light. That was a loaded statement, and Felicity didn't really know what Moira was hinting at.

"I mean, I'm stepping down sooner than I planned. If it's not too much of a burden, I'd like to bring Oliver back to QC two months from now, so we can have plenty of time to transition him into his rightful position within QC before I retire." Moira elaborated, her observant gaze moving to Oliver again.

Felicity was thankful for that because the momentary panic she knew passed over her face would have been an odd sight. Especially because the panic wasn't about having to find a replacement in such a short amount of time. By the time Moira faced her again, Felicity had schooled her features into business mode. "I understand. I'll get right on finding a replacement then."

Moira gave her a grateful smile with a satisfied nod. Surprising Felicity, though, was the affectionate hand Moira placed on Felicity's arm. "Thank you so much for all that you've done for him. I never thought Oliver would be ready to take ownership of QC, but you've worked a miracle, dear." She praised with an approving smile.

Felicity gaped at Moira for a second, unsure of what to say to such high praise from someone as highly respected as Moira Queen. Moira chuckled softly, an odd sound coming from such a composed person, and patted Felicity's arm gently. "By the way, you look beautiful tonight. You really have grown into a fine woman, Felicity. Your father would be very proud." Moira stated with finality before leaving Felicity by the bar and disappearing into the crowd again.

Felicity's mouth hung open slightly, her brows pulled into a confused even slightly stunned look. That had been one of the weirdest conversations she had ever had, made even weirder by Moira's departure from character for most of it. As the conversation sunk in, Felicity felt her stomach twist. He was leaving... Oliver was going back to QC in just two short months...

As her eyes found Oliver across the room again, still surrounded by his devoted harem, her stomach dropped to her feet. She felt like she was going to be sick. Maybe it was a sign. Everything was bound to come to an end at some point, especially their fling. What made her sick wasn't so much the fact that things were going to change, but that she didn't want them to. That thought absolutely terrified her.

Suddenly, his eyes met hers across the room and a soft smile tugged at his lips. His whole face transformed with that smile. Gone was the charming Oliver, and in his place was the side of him only she knew. It was a smile she knew he reserved just for her. Normally, Felicity would have melted at that gaze of his. Tonight, with this recent revelation, she panicked instead.

Thankfully his eyes left hers quickly as he attended to his companions, giving her the chance to subtly check her watch. It was late enough that she could duck out and not offend any of the other business elite. Thank god because she needed to get out of there before she did anything rash. Setting down her wine, suddenly uninterested in finishing its contents, Felicity gathered her floor-length red dress in one hand and hastily went for the exit.

Only when she reached her limo and was safely seated inside of it about fifteen minutes later did she let out the breath she had been holding. She was thankful no one had stopped her. And by no one she meant Oliver. She didn't know what she would have done if he had found her on her way out. As the limo took off towards her townhouse, Felicity leaned her head back against the headrest, letting her eyes slide shut as she forced her earlier thoughts out of her head.

A few minutes into her drive, Felicity felt a faint buzzing in her clutch. Opening her eyes again, she fished out her phone and checked the notification.

_**Oliver Queen, 9:48 pm: Where are you?** _

Felicity bit her lip painfully as she stared down at his text. He was probably just curious. Going with that, Felicity let the screen go dark and slipped the phone back into the clutch. He probably wouldn't worry if she didn't respond, and she didn't really want to deal with that right now. As a matter of fact, she was trying to expunge all thoughts of Oliver at the moment.

Just as they pulled up to her red brick building and the driver opened her door, about twenty minutes later, Felicity felt her phone buzz from inside her clutch again. Stepping out of the car and making her way up the steps to her front door, she waited until she was safely inside her townhouse and away from prying eyes before checking the newest message. Placing her clutch on the table right next to her door, Felicity reluctantly fished her phone out again.

_**Oliver Queen, 10:05 pm: Felicity?** _

She let out a heavy sigh, shutting the phone off again without responding. She was tempted though. She didn't have to see him to sense his worry. It was just who Oliver is. Biting her lip, she hesitated slightly before making her decision and opening her phone again. She didn't want him worrying about her all night or asking too many questions.

With her finger hovering over the send button, Felicity's eyes scanned the text quickly to make sure it sounded okay. Hopefully it was enough to placate him. Confident in what she had composed, she hit send and let the screen go dark again.

_**Felicity Smoak, 10:07 pm: I'm fine. Just got tired and needed to duck out early. Enjoy the rest of your night.** _

Her phone didn't immediately buzz again after that as she made her way up two flights of stairs to her room, so she figured he had accepted her excuse. Confident that she could finally relax for the evening, Felicity went about getting out of her stuffy formal wear and readying herself for bed the moment she crossed the threshold into her room. However, after she left she shower and returned to her room in a towel to fetch some pajamas, she saw the light flashing on her phone that indicated a new text message, almost an hour after she had sent him that last message.

_**Oliver Queen, 10:40 pm: Okay, sleep well. Good night, Felicity.** _

_**Oliver Queen, 10:56 pm: I never had the chance to tell you, but you really looked beautiful in that dress tonight.** _

Her breath hitched painfully, and her hand clutched the towel tightly at his second text. All the thoughts and feelings that she had finally managed to push down not long ago bubbled to the surface again as she read his text over and over again.

Seeing him with those other girls tonight, and his own mother telling her that their time together was coming to a close made her chest constrict painfully. Throwing the phone onto her bed like it had burned her, Felicity quickly went back to her routine like nothing had happened. Except, now, the very thought she had been trying to ignore was now running through her head on repeat: she wasn't ready for it to end.

By the time she was finally ready for bed, that thought was still nagging her. Making her way back over to her bed to get in and go to sleep, her eyes landed on her discarded phone causing her to pause. She stared it down for a long time, biting down on her lip gently as turmoil raged within her.

Finally, a side won. With a nod of encouragement for herself, she disappeared into her closet to change into a pair of running shorts and an over-sized MIT sweatshirt before gathering up her phone and heading for her Mini Cooper parked on the quiet street outside her townhouse.

She wanted Oliver, and she was going to go get him.

****

It was nearing midnight when she finally reached the door to Oliver's penthouse apartment across town. Standing at his door, with her fist poised to knock, Felicity briefly contemplated turning back around and going home. It was late, and this was probably a stupid idea. The only thing urging her on was the deep need Felicity felt for him right now.

Steeling herself with a deep breath, she knocked loudly on his door. A few too many seconds passed of pure silence on the other side of the door though, causing Felicity's stomach to sink to her feet. Hopefully he was just asleep, but a thought nagged her in the back of her mind – what if he had company?

Waiting a few seconds longer, Felicity realized this had been a stupid decision and turned to go. She maybe made it two steps away from his door when she heard a faint shuffling and a lock being undone before his door creaked open. "Felicity?" His gruff, sleep-laden voice called out to her retreating form.

Whirling around quickly, her eyes landed on his very exposed form leaning casually out of his doorway. She could really get used to him greeting her half-naked like this more often. Licking her lips subconsciously, her eyes worked their way up his statuesque figure, definitely pausing to appreciate the way his grey sweatpants hung deliciously low on his hips and accentuated the present awaiting her just under their surface.

By the time her eyes reached his again, she noticed he was looking at her with mild concern, obviously curious at to why she had shown up unannounced at such a late hour, and at his apartment no less. She saw his mouth start to open slightly, probably to ask her exactly that, but Felicity wasted no time cutting him off. She knew that if he started asking questions the mood would be ruined, so she needed to cut straight to the chase.

Stalking up to him with a slight saunter to her hips, she placed her hands on his bare chest and shoved him back inside his apartment, kicking the door shut with the heel of her foot. The second the door was closed, she gently pushed him against the wall of the small entryway they were in. Staring him down with hooded eyes, she could still see the mild confusion in his eyes, but she watched the first hints of desire cloud his vision as he gazed back at her. A sultry smile tugged at her lips as she stepped between his legs, his hands automatically finding her hips and pulling her close.

Licking her lips, Felicity's eyes flickered down to his cock that she could feel rapidly hardening against her stomach. Teasingly tracing her fingers up his left thigh, she eventually cupped him in her hand with a wicked grin. She looked up into his eyes again from under her long eyelashes as she palmed him, giving him a few strokes for good measure.

The first reaction she noticed was the subtle way his hands tightened on her hips, as if to pull her even closer. Then it was the tiny part of his lips as his breathing became more labored. Then, with a few more strokes, his hips slowly rocked into her hand in time with her movements, and a small wet spot formed on the front of his sweatpants. "Felicity?" He breathed out, the question of why she was behaving like this lingering on his tongue, unsaid but clearly implied.

Bringing her free hand up, she pressed her index finger to his lips. "Shh..." She instructed softly. Not wanting to give him another opening, that hand went to the back of his head, her fingers weaving through his short hairs as she slowly pulled his head down towards hers. She stopped just before their lips touched though, letting their breaths mingle together and become one as she continued to stroke him through his pants. "Fuck." He growled against her lips, rocking his hips a little more urgently now.

The corner of her mouth twitch up briefly at his reaction to her. She couldn't deny that it felt good to be in control like this for once.

Flexing her fingers in his hair ever so slightly, she pushed his head the rest of the distance and crushed her lips to his in a bruising kiss. His lips responded instantly and eagerly, devouring hers in a heated kiss. Without wasting any time, they both opened their mouths to the kiss, their tongues coming out and meeting in the middle for their usual heated dance.

Breaking the kiss, Felicity pulled away only a few centimeters as she sucked in a few breaths of air, her nose brushing against his softly as their labored breathing mingled together again. "Felicity..." He breathed out, the slightest smile tugging at his lips as his eyes cracked open slightly to appraise her.

Her eyes opened slowly to meet his intense gaze, and her heart jumped in her chest. No. Tonight was about feeling, about just being together, but the way he was looking at her conjured up the very thoughts she was trying to ignore. She needed to get back on task, so she changed her tactic slightly. Ducking her head under his chin, she latched onto the base of his neck, working the small patch of skin under her lips with wet, open-mouthed kisses and the occasional nibble. The hand still working his painfully hard cock released him momentarily, a pained groan escaping his lips. His groan turned into a strangled moan though when Felicity slid her hand into his pants and wrapped her small hand around the base of his cock.

At the sensation of finally having him in her hand, Felicity moaned softly into his neck and rolled her hips against him. She couldn't ignore the wetness pooling between her legs anymore. The minute Oliver felt that first movement from her, he deftly rearranged them, slipping one leg between both of Felicity's so she was straddling his thigh. Pulling away from his neck, Felicity looked up at him for a beat before crashing her lips against his again while rolling her hips against his strong thigh. A shudder of pleasure ripped through her at the contact, her hand still in his hair tightening automatically at the sensation.

Oliver gave the kiss everything he had, meeting her kiss for kiss as his lips moved in a familiar dance with hers. Slowly, he slid one hand down to her ass, cupping his large hand around it and pulling her hips into his thigh again as he rocked into her hand still stroking the length of his cock. "Jesus." He groaned against her lips at the same time a small whimper left her lips. They settled into a rhythm after that, Felicity grinding against his leg, him rocking into her hand, and their lips moving together expertly as the need for release mounted for both of them.

On one particularly firm stroke, Felicity felt him jerk into her hand with a loud groan. She knew he had to be close. She knew she was right when he brought his hands up to her shoulders and gently pushed her away. Reluctantly detaching herself from him, her hand slipping out of his pants as well, she opened her eyes again to look at him. His own eyes were screwed shut, his teeth clenched tightly together as his dick jumped eagerly in his pants. Oh, he was close all right.

After a few deep breaths, his eyes popped open again suddenly and absolutely devoured her under his heated gaze. "Bedroom." He growled out, taking her hand in his and pulling her along behind him. On the way to their destination, her eyes combed over the dimly lit space appraisingly as they climbed up a set of open-air stairs up to a lofted space. Of course Oliver would have great taste in apartments.

Passing quickly through the small office/library space at the top of the stairs, Oliver pulled her into a walled off room on the other half of the lofted area. As soon as they were inside, Oliver spun around to face her again. Tugging her to him with the hand still holding hers, he then wrapped that arm around her lower back, the other hand coming up to her hair. He deftly pulled her hair out of its high ponytail, flinging the poor hairband somewhere, and then tangled his fingers in her beautiful golden locks. This time her hands curled around the base of his lower back, just above his firm ass, pulling his body close as Oliver pulled her lips to his for another searing kiss.

Their lips locked together in another intimate dance of soft caresses, desperate kisses, nibbling, clashing teeth, and delicate battles with their tongues for dominance over the kiss. Coming up for air eventually, Felicity panted heavily as his forehead came to rest gently against hers. Slowly, she traced her delicate hands back around to his chest before giving him a soft shove, causing him to stumble backwards a few steps. When his calves bumped into his bed, he plopped down onto the edge of his already rumpled bed with a lop-sided grin tugging at his lips, causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle in a way that always made Felicity's heart flutter. For a second she just stared at him, unabashedly eyeing his cock straining proudly against the front of his sweatpants.

Stepping between his spread legs with a sly grin, she wound her arms around his neck as his hands came up to her hips. Gently, he gripped the hem of her sweatshirt, pulling it up over her torso. Momentarily unwinding her arms from his neck, she shed the garment easily, and Oliver dropped it onto the floor next to them before they resumed their positions. He placed a few lingering open-mouthed kisses against the soft skin of her stomach, accompanied by a soft sigh when Felicity's fingers began to absentmindedly play with the hair at the base of his neck. After a few more gentle nibbles and kisses, Oliver tipped his head up, his fuzzy chin resting against her stomach. "How do you know where I live?" He asked out of the blue, an amused curiosity dancing in his eyes.

Rolling her eyes, she slowly brought a hand around to press on his shoulder, getting him to lean back ever so slightly as she went to kneel between his legs. "I'm your boss. It's my job to know these things. That and if it's on the internet I can find it." She teased with a knowing smirk as she curled her fingers into the waistband of his pants.

A brief look of understanding passed over his face before the desire was back full force as he realized what was coming next. Pressing his hands into the mattress, he used the leverage to push his hips off the bed, allowing Felicity to tug his sweatpants off him before he kicked them the rest of the way off to join Felicity's discarded sweatshirt on the ground.

Watching his cock spring free, ready and waiting for her, Felicity involuntarily bit her lip as a shiver of pleasure passed through her at the sight. Glancing back up to him as she wrapped one hand around the base of him again, she saw him watching her eagerly with eyes that were hooded with desire while he leaned back casually on his palms, a lazy smile tugging at his lips. Licking her lips briefly in anticipation, Felicity finally leaned forward and took him into her mouth.

"Fuck." He gasped out in his low timber, his hands fisting the sheets around him. Felicity grinned around his thick length momentarily at that – she had never understood the fascination some women had with giving a man head until now. Slowly, Felicity started to ease more of his length into her mouth until it became slightly uncomfortable. Backtracking, Felicity slowly came back up, her hand at his base following her head's movement, and her lips sucking him firmly at the top of her stroke. Feeling him twitch in her mouth and against her hand, and hearing the guttural moan rumble in his chest, Felicity knew she had done something right.

She settled into a rhythm after that, bobbing up and down his length, her hand pumping his base in time with each bob, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could comfortably manage on each stroke. The whole time her eyes were trained on his face from underneath her lashes, watching his signals and reactions. Though his eyes were closed now, the pleasure he was experiencing was written all over his face, and evidenced by the way his bare, broad chest rose and fell with each labored breath.

Next thing she knew, she saw him uncurl one hand from around the sheets, only to slide those fingers into her hair again. With his eyes still firmly shut and his head tipped back slightly in pleasure, his hand in her hair slowly started to guide her movements at the pace he wanted. After a few strokes at the new pace set by his hand, his hips began to gingerly thrust up into her mouth.

Watching Oliver begin to come undone turned Felicity on like never before. Shifting slightly to squeeze her thighs together, she instantly felt a zing of pleasure emanate from her already soaking wet core. She couldn't help herself. While she continued to bob up and down his cock, her free hand dipped into her shorts to give herself some relief. The minute she brushed a finger over her clit, a moan bubbled up in her throat, vibrating deliciously around his cock.

Oliver's eyes flew open and sought Felicity's blown pupils at the new sensation. The movements of her free hand must have caught his eye because she saw his gaze wander downward briefly. When he realized that Felicity was touching herself, his hand in her hair tightened as he thrust a bit more forcefully into her mouth. "Shit, babe..." He moaned out, his gaze still fixated on the hand still working her already swollen clit.

Hearing the term of endearment slip from his lips, Felicity paused her movements in surprise. _That was a first..._ Getting over her momentary shock, she felt his curious gaze on her. Slowly, she released his cock with a soft pop and gave him a reassuring smile as she gingerly got to her feet again. His hand slipped from her hair only to take himself into his hand, stroking himself lazily as he watched Felicity, waiting for her next move.

Clenching her thighs together subtly at the sight of him stroking himself, Felicity momentarily forgot what she was doing as she watched him. Blinking rapidly to bring herself back to the task at hand, she brought her eyes back up to his and held his heated gaze as she slowly undressed the rest of the way. While Felicity slipped her shorts off and discarded her bra and underwear, Oliver leaned over to his right, opening the night stand and fishing around momentarily before righting himself with a small packet in hand, his eyes never leaving Felicity.

With a completely naked Felicity standing before him, Oliver hastily applied the condom in hand, his eyes roving hungrily over the beauty before him. When he was ready, with a soft smile on her lips, Felicity came forward and straddled his waist, her knees resting on the bed next to him. Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he slipped one hand between them to take his cock into his hand again, lining himself up with her waiting core, his other hand gripping her waist to support her.

Their faces were mere inches apart now, two pairs of hooded blue eyes locked together, their hot breaths mingling together as the anticipation built. Never moving her gaze from his, Felicity slowly descended onto his cock, it easily slipping into her like it was the most natural thing in the world. When he was fully sheathed, Oliver extracted his hand from between their bodies and brought it up to grip her waist, his eyes still fixed on her own hooded gaze.

Wasting no time, Felicity lifted herself back up with some assistance from his hands before sliding back down onto him, earning a drawn out groan from Oliver. Working together, Felicity rocked her hips back and forth, his strong grip supporting her the whole time. As she settled into a fast-paced rhythm, Felicity's eyes slid shut and her head tipped forward just slightly until her forehead touched his, their noses brushing together subtly with each thrust.

Neither of them said a word. Instead, the only sound echoing around the room was the sound of their panting mixing together as their bodies rocked together in unison. Gradually, Felicity's rocking became more urgent as she felt herself nearing the edge, Oliver's upward thrusts becoming more forceful in response.

With her heart pounding loudly in her ears, and her pants becoming louder and more frequent, Felicity's arms around his neck unwound as her hands searched for some kind of purchase, anything to hold onto to brace against the intense orgasm she knew was mere moments away. Finally, one hand landed on his shoulder with a desperate grip, the other finding its way into the hairs near the base of his neck.

Clamping her lower lips between her teeth painfully, almost to the point of leaving a mark, Felicity felt the first tingle of her orgasm on the very near horizon. Chasing the sensation, her hips thrust down onto him a few jerky times, hitting the spot she knew would trigger her orgasm.

One final thrust drew a loud gasp from her lips. As the waves of pure pleasure began, her eyes flew open, her head lolled back, and her body arched into him as her walls fluttered around him.

A deep, predatory growl rumbled up from within Oliver's chest at watching her fall apart on top of him. His fingers dug almost painfully into her hips as he guided her through her orgasm, continuing to thrust into her, drawing it out until Felicity thought she was going to burn up from the intensity of the experience.

Just as suddenly as her own orgasm washed over her, a few erratic thrusts later from Oliver, he fell right over the edge with her. His hands on her hips jerked her down roughly, their bodies flush with one another, and his thrusting becoming a series of short jerky pumps.

In her utter exhaustion and sated state as the adrenaline from her orgasm dissipated, Felicity's head fell against his shoulder as she wound her arms around his neck again, his whole body still quivering under her as his orgasm swept through his entire being. Lazily, she pressed long, soft kisses against his shoulder as she gently rocked her hips, helping him through his orgasm like he had done for her only moments ago.

When his orgasm subsided and exhaustion took its place for him as well, he gently laid back on his bed, bringing Felicity with him so she was laying on top of him. They stayed like that for a while, their sated bodies, covered in a thin sheen of perspiration, heaving exhausted breaths in unison as they came down from their high together.

Coming back to reality first, Felicity gently rolled off of him until she was sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, her gaze firmly fixed on her feet. That had been one of the most amazing experiences of her sexual life, but something was still off. She thought she would feel better, like getting a bug out of your system. So, why did she feel more confused than ever.

She jumped slightly when she was startled out of her thoughts by his surprisingly tender touch as his hand lazily stroked a random pattern on her lower back. For a second, so brief she hoped he wouldn't notice, she stiffened slightly under his touch. Intimate. That was what this all felt like. It had started off as something carnal in her attempt to exorcise her need for him tonight, but somehow emotion had slowly taken hold of her at some point and the whole experience had become intimate.

"Felicity," He started slowly, his already low timber almost an octave lower with lingering desire, drawing her gaze as she glanced at him over her shoulder. "I _really_ like this dominant side. Where has that been this whole time?" He asked teasingly, but also not even attempting to hide how serious he was at the same time.

She knew it was nothing. Oliver just thought that Felicity dominating their interaction tonight was hot. But, Felicity knew the truth of the matter. It was out of character for her. It had come from jealousy, possessiveness, fear even, and other feelings she had no right to feel for Oliver. He wasn't hers. She wasn't his. But that was exactly what she had subconsciously tried to establish with this little stunt.

Quickly looking away from him, panic seeped into her as she practically jumped off the bed. She had to get out of here. It had been a mistake to come here tonight. And to his home no less, something so... intimate. _There's that damn word again_ , her brain vaguely noted somewhere underneath the panic slowly trying to overwhelm her.

Hastily tugging on her clothes again, she vaguely registered that he had sat up again and called her name with concern clear in his voice. Fidgeting with her tangled blonde locks, her eyes frantically scanned the whole room for the missing hair tie, thankfully allowing her to avoid his eyes. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come here so late, and unannounced, barging in like I did. I wasn't thinking... I should let you get back to bed." She babbled out. Deciding it was hopeless to try and find her hair tie, she decided to cut her losses and make her escape. "Night, Oliver... sorry, again." She mumbled before hurriedly leaving his room and making her way back to his front door.

"Felicity."

No, she wouldn't look back.

"Felicity!" He called out more forcefully followed by a frantic but whispered "fuck."

She needed to get out. Just leave tonight behind her and try to play it off as a sexual experiment or something when she saw him at work on Monday.

Reaching his front door, she could practically taste the freedom and relief from the panic bubbling just the surface. Her fingers curled around the door knob, ready to escape, when his large hand landed loudly on the door right near her head.

Sucking in a large breath, she stilled under his hulking frame she knew was mere inches away from her, pinning her between himself and the door. But, she wasn't afraid. Not physically afraid at least. She was scared she would say something she might never be able to take back, but not afraid. She would never be afraid of him.

"Hey," He breathed out, "look at me, please."

Biting her lip in trepidation, Felicity held her breath as she slowly spun around, coming face-to-face with Oliver, back in his grey sweatpants, her wide blue eyes tentatively tracking up to meet his blazing gaze.

"Never say that again." He growled out. "Never apologize to me for anything ever." He added just as forcefully, but she could hear him holding back. He was trying to restrain himself for her, but she could feel the frustration and even anger vibrating off of him. Closing his eyes, he grit his teeth together as he took a few deep breaths through his nose to calm himself, his hand on the door coming back to his side as he put a little distance between them.

The whole thing left her reeling. She figured he would be concerned by her hasty exit, but nothing like... this. This was something else entirely, like he was aghast that she felt like she had done something to warrant apologizing to him.

After what felt like an eternity, his eyes slowly opened to meet hers again, but this time they were filled with nothing but concern. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so scary just then." He said softly, a look of disappointment in his own behavior flitting over his features briefly. "What I'm trying to say is you don't need to apologize. I'm really glad you came over. I was concerned when you left the gala so suddenly." He said, a tiny smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. "Is everything okay, though?" The concern was back, his eyes gently probing her gaze like he was trying to peer into her very soul.

Shrinking under his gaze a little, she fought off the urge to wrap her arms around herself protectively, but she couldn't stop the way her shoulders rounded in slightly like she was curling into herself. "Yeah." She offered lamely at first, but continued again after a brief pause as she tried to come up with a reasonable cover story. "I couldn't sleep, and we didn't really get a chance to see each other tonight, so I couldn't help myself. I wanted to come see you. Sorry about the little freak out there, I guess I just felt bad about coming by unannounced and so late as well." She lied easily, brushing it off with a forced chuckle.

For a long second, his probing eyes watched her even after she had finished speaking. She knew he was assessing what she had just said, trying to determine how much of that was true. Thankfully, he huffed out a small laugh and gave her a more full grin now. "Well, now that the cat's out of the bag," He said, gesturing with one arm to the interior of his apartment, "feel free to drop by anytime, especially if all your visits are going to be like this one." He finished suggestively with a playful quirk of one of his brows.

Blushing to her roots, Felicity averted her gaze from his. Tonight had been a first for her, and despite the fact that it was caused by feelings she wasn't ready to tackle, she kind of enjoyed tonight too. She would never admit that out loud though. Coughing slightly to cut the slight awkwardness, she shyly brushed a strand of her lose hair behind one of her ears. "I'd better get home, it's pretty late." She deflected, her eyes coming back up to meet his again. This time though, for the first time she could recall, she couldn't quite decipher the look in them, and that scared her.

She watched him start to say something, but he quickly swallowed whatever words had been on the tip of his tongue. "As long as you're really okay." He checked one last time.  
Looking at him for a long moment, she noticed the way his hands seemed to be fidgeting at his sides, and the way he was restraining his whole body, like he wanted to reach out to her... to hold her maybe. Pushing aside those dangerous thoughts, she smiled at him, hoping it seemed somewhat natural. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry for worrying you there." She lied again, her gaze falling away from his right at the end of her sentence as she turned to pull open the door.

Before letting the door shut behind her, she decided to look back at him one last time. He was still watching her intently, that unreadable look back in his gaze, and his hands fisted tightly and shoved into the pockets of his sweatpants. "Night Oliver, see you on Monday." She said quietly.

Right before the door quietly clicked shut, she heard his faint response filter into the completely silent hallway. "Good night, Felicity."

Forcing her feet to move to the elevator down the hallway, she heard his words in her ears on repeat. It wasn't _what_ he had said, but _how_ he said it. There was something unrecognizable behind his words, something just as unrecognizable as his eyes had been moments ago. But that was the least of her worries. Biting her lip, she pressed the down button on the elevator and shuffled her feet anxiously as she waited for it to arrive.

First, she needed to sort out the jumbled mess that was her emotions in the aftermath of that encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are slowly starting to come to a head (sorry not sorry for the unintentionally sexual pun hehe) regarding their feelings for one another! 
> 
> As always, drop me a line with your thoughts/questions. I absolutely love hearing from you guys!


	5. Glimpse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while, so hopefully you guys are excited to finally see an update for this fic! This chapter has a slightly different feel to it (I think you'll see what I mean as you read it), but don't worry there's still some smut ;)
> 
> As a heads up, I have some not so great news to share. I know I don't update this story super frequently in the first place, but I've just started graduate school and that means updates might be even more infrequent. I still hope to take some time as often as I can to work on my fics as a study break or way to decompress, but I can't make any promises because I know how crazy things get for me when school starts. That being said, I can promise that I won't abandon this! I love this story too much to leave it unfinished, especially when some really good chapters that I've been looking forward to are coming up next. It might take a little longer than I hoped, but we'll get to the end, I promise!
> 
> Enjoy the update guys!

Felicity's palms splayed over his pecs as she dug her nails into the taught flesh, her breath leaving her in heavy pants. Grinding her hips back and forth in time with his rough upward thrusts just a few more times was all it took for her orgasm to slam into her like a freight train, making her head roll back as her hips undulated over his frantically. "Oliver!" She moaned loudly, her whole body bowing above him in ecstasy.

"Beautiful..." He growled hungrily as he thrust through her orgasm, his hands on her hips holding her steady on top of him. With her walls clenching deliciously around his throbbing cock, a few more thrusts of his own sent him over the edge, his hips snapping into hers as he buried himself deep inside of her for his release. "F-Fuck." He rumbled out shakily as he convulsed from his orgasm.

As they both came down from their respective orgasms, Oliver's whole body relaxed into the bed and Felicity collapsed on top of him, pressing her ear into his heaving chest as she molded herself around him.

After a few minutes of lying there, trying to regain feeling in their limbs, Oliver lifted a hand from her waist and gently brushed her loose curls behind her exposed ear. Lifting her head at the gesture, her eyes met his content gaze as his fingers trailed down her back to retake their place on her hips.

Tilting her head up, Felicity pressed a linger kiss on the curve of his scruffy jaw before pressing her hands into his mattress and lifting herself off him, then climbing off his bed to search for her clothes. A noticeable shiver wracked her body as the cold winter air that permeated his room hit her heated skin, and Felicity tried to promptly squash her desire to get back in bed with Oliver where it was warm. She never stayed overnight when they met up at his place, and she wasn't about to start.

Yup, she was back at his place. A few days after her freak out the first time she came here, she calmed down and realized that she was being ridiculous. There was nothing going on between her and Oliver, so there was nothing wrong with coming over this place from time to time. Except, time to time became two days a week, which quickly turned into an almost nightly ritual. That didn't mean they didn't occasionally sneak around at the office still – they both loved the thrill of being caught too much to stop that entirely. But, his place became their safe space, away from the prying eyes of the public and the nosy employees at Smoak Tech. They could be as loud as they wanted, as open as they wanted, and that liberated them.

There was one unspoken rule though: she refused to spend the night and he never asked.

Tonight though, as Felicity looked out his window while pulling her jeans back on, she realized Mother Nature had very different plans for her.

"Frack." She cursed under her breath, nervously toying with her sweater in her hands.

It had started snowing early this evening on her way over to his place. The weather forecasters said it wasn't going to be a bad storm, so she didn't see a problem with coming over to Oliver's still. Clearly, they had gotten it really, really wrong because she couldn't see anything outside his window except for the blinding white snow blowing by at an alarming rate.

"Hmm, everything okay?" Oliver mumbled sleepily from his bed.

Biting her lip nervously, she looked over to see him watching her intently despite the exhaustion she had just heard in his voice. "Not really, you should see this." She said softly as she looked back to his window in utter disbelief.

After some shuffling, a still very naked Oliver stepped up next to her. This time a shiver passed through her at the feeling of his warm heat radiating off him and caressing her chilled skin. "Oh shit. That's not good." He said in awe and Felicity hummed in agreement. "You're staying here." He then stated out of the blue with a firmness that meant there was no way she was going to talk him out of it.

She spun around, about to argue with him that she'd be fine, but he was giving her a knowing look that made her words die on her tongue. _Damn him_ , she cursed. She knew she wouldn't be safe if she tried to drive across town in this weather, and he was totally calling her out.

"Fine." She grumbled, pulling her sweater over her petite figure. "Can I borrow some pillows and blankets, then?" She asked, turning back to look out the window.

He was quiet for a moment, no doubt trying to figure out why she was asking for pillows and blankets. "Sure..., yeah, I can get you some." He offered a little hesitantly. It seemed like he wasn't about to fight her on it. "Hang on though." He instructed gently as he stepped away from her.

Still staring out his window with a furrowed brow, she listened to him move about his room, opening and closing a few drawers and then going into his bathroom to rummage around before he came back out. "Felicity?" He called gently.

"Hmm?" She hummed, spinning around to look at him. She was both disappointed and relieved that he was fully clothed again in a white t-shirt and flannel pajama pants.

"There are some toiletries on the counter for you," he said with a nod over his shoulder towards his bathroom, "and, I uh grabbed you some clothes to change into. I didn't think you'd be comfortable in jeans and a nice sweater." He offered with an almost shy shrug. "I'll leave you to change while I go grab you some pillows and blankets." He said almost nervously as he offered her a small smile before slipping out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

This was all so... awkward. She thought she was the only one, but that little moment just now told her he felt just as awkward.

Moving into his bathroom, she quietly closed the door behind her and locked it before turning around to look at what he'd left her. On the counter laid face wash, a tooth brush, toothpaste, a hand towel, and the pile of clothes he'd picked out for her. Her heart fluttered briefly at his thoroughness and the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

Shaking those thoughts away, she went about cleaning up a bit, making sure to take her time, before going to change into the clothes he'd given her. Slipping off her clothes, including her bra and ruined underwear from tonight's activities, she slipped on his grey sweatpants and plain black V-neck t-shirt, inhaling his spicy scent as she slid the shirt over her head. Of course, his clothes smelled just as intoxicating as he did.

Turning to look at herself in the mirror after she folded her own clothes into a neat pile, a tiny frown marred her brow. His clothes completely swamped her tiny frame, but she couldn't deny that she liked the way she looked in them. She just couldn't pinpoint why though.

Giving her reflection one last glance, Felicity collected her things and stepped out of the bathroom again just as Oliver was coming back into his room.

When he spotted her though, he stopped short to unabashedly stare at her, his eyes caressing the length of her with a very appreciative, hungry look.

Clearing her throat softly, she shuffled on her feet under the weight of his gaze. "Thanks for the clothes and toiletries."

Looking back up to her eyes suddenly, he slowly nodded. "Of course. Everything's good to go downstairs." He said softly, though his eyes bore into hers, silently asking her to stay with him instead. It wasn't the first time she'd seen that look. Though he never verbally asked her to stay, sometimes he would give her that very same look when it came time to say good night, a look she had a really hard time ignoring if she were being honest.

Smiling softly at him, she moved around him towards the door to his room to head downstairs for the night. Tonight was not the night she would give into that look. "Thanks, Oliver. Night." She whispered with one last glance over her shoulder to look at him before descending the stairs.

"Night, Felicity. Sleep well." He called out just as softly to her retreating form, right before she moved out of earshot.

When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner to head for the couch, it was her turn to stop short at the sight before her. She had just expected him to set out the pillows and blankets she'd requested. Instead, she found the couch completely made up for her, a glass of water on the coffee table, and he'd even started a fire in his gorgeous fireplace for her.

Tentatively, she walked over to the setup, placing her clothes in an armchair nearby before sitting down on the couch. As her eyes took it all in again, her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. All the little things he was doing to make her comfortable overwhelmed her and touched her. She knew from work that he was surprisingly detail oriented when he wanted to be, but something about the way he took care of her felt different.

Pushing those thoughts away, Felicity reached over to turn off the lamp next to the couch, the only remaining light in the room now the soft flickering glow of the fire as Felicity laid out on the couch, bundling up under the blankets he'd prepared for her.

She tried to sleep, she really did. She was tired from their round of wild sex earlier, the couch was more than comfortable, and the warm heat of the fire kept her nice and cozy despite the storm raging outside, but she just couldn't fall asleep. Her mind wasn't even racing. It was her body that wouldn't let her rest. It felt like something was missing, and she had an inkling she knew what it was her body wanted.

Felicity tossed and turned for a while longer, hoping she would settle down eventually and fall asleep. By the time the fire started to die down, Felicity knew it was hopeless. Her whole body hummed with a need that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Throwing the covers off herself, she pushed herself upright with a frustrated sigh, shivering slightly when her bare feet hit the cold floor. Turning to look out the wall of glass windows to her left, she absentmindedly watched the ongoing blizzard while she contemplated her next move.

One night wouldn't hurt, right?

Lifting herself from the couch, she padded back up the stairs, keeping her tread quiet so she wouldn't disturb him if he was already asleep. Stepping over the threshold into his room, grateful he'd left his door open so she wouldn't have to fumble around trying to open it, she paused just inside his room when her eyes landed on his sleeping form.

His beautifully muscled back faced the door at the moment, expanding and contracting slowly with each even breath. It always astounded her that this beautiful specimen of a man was hers.

 _Woah, hold it Smoak. He's not yours. You just meant that he's your EA and that, somehow, he's attracted enough to you to have very frequent sex with you. That's all_ , she corrected herself quickly.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, she quietly moved into his room and around to the other side of his bed. Peeling back his covers, she slowly climbed into the bed, her eyes never leaving his peaceful face.

Though, as she shifted herself under the covers to get comfortable, his eyes slowly blinked open to look at her, causing her to halt her movements, waiting for his reaction. Eventually, a smile lifted his lips and her whole body relaxed as she resumed her attempt to get comfortable.

Finally, Felicity and Oliver rearranged themselves until he was spooning her from behind, his whole body engulfing her, his right arm delicately wrapped around her waist, and their legs tangled together.

Neither of them fell asleep immediately though. She couldn't speak for Oliver, but she felt the faint buzz of desire all throughout her body for him again. They had only spent a night together once before, way back during that business trip, and she had forgotten how good it felt to be wrapped up like this with him.

Just when she thought he had fallen asleep behind her, she felt his hand slid under her shirt (technically, his shirt). Splaying his fingers over her stomach, his thumb slowly started to stroke her soft skin, the warmth of desire spreading over her with that small caress.

A low hum of contentment bubbled up in her throat as he nuzzled his face into her neck, using his hand on her stomach to press her a little closer into his front. His lips placed a gentle kiss right behind her ear before nibbling gently on her lobe.

Pressing her head further into her pillow, she opened up her neck to him a little more as her body arched into him, a soft gasp tearing from her lips when her ass brushed his hardening erection.

She could feel the grin on his lips when he pressed a series of lingering kisses against the column of her neck and around to her shoulder. Frack this man was absolutely intoxicating. Two could play at this game though.

Rolling her hips, she ground her firm ass back against his cock, moaning softly at the fresh wave of desire that swept over her at the feel of him pressed against her. At the same time, his hand on her stomach flexed slightly and his teeth involuntarily clamped down on her shoulder as he groaned softly against her skin.

Sliding his hand up her stomach, he gently reached across her body to cup her left breast, lazily brushing the pad of his thumb over her already pebbled nipple. Gently releasing her shoulder from the grip of his teeth, he slowly licked the tender skin and then pressed a few soothing kisses over the same spot, triggering a shiver of pleasure in Felicity at the contrast in sensations.

As he continued to lick and suck at the sensitive flesh of her shoulder, his fingers gently caressed her left nipple for another moment before sliding across to show the other breast the same love. Felicity felt the juncture of her thighs growing damp as he worked the tender buds, each brush of his thumb and tweak of his fingers sending another wave of desire through her body.

Oliver didn't linger though and released her breast from his palm after a brief appreciation for that bud. A frustrated whimper passed through her parted lips, her back arching as she beckoned for his touch again. With a deep, rumbling laugh, Oliver teased his fingers down her heated skin, slipping them into the waistband of his sweatpants she wore. Pressing a lingering kiss behind her ear again before moving to tug on her industrial piercing with his teeth, he pressed his fingers between her legs and circled her clit with a delicate stroke. "You're absolutely intoxicating, Felicity." He whispered gruffly into her ear.

The first stroke of his finger over her clit almost made Felicity come right then and there. She had never been more aroused from just a few simple gestures than she was at this moment. There was something about the position they were in, with every inch of his hard body pressed against every inch of hers, his firm erection nestled deliciously in between her ass cheeks, and the things his hand was doing... He thought she was intoxicating, but Oliver was absolutely sinful and she would never be able to get enough of him.

Sliding his fingers a little further between her legs, Oliver dipped them between her already soaking wet lips, gathering some of her juices on his fingers before gliding back up to her clit where he continued his delicious torture. Another gasp tore from her lips as her hips rocked against his fingers. Behind her, Oliver slowly started to rock his hips into hers, his cloth covered erection sliding back and forth between her ass over and over again.

"O-oh... sh-shit." She rasped when he slid his fingers back to her opening again, but this time sliding his middle finger into her. Pumping his finger in and out of her now, curling his finger every once in a while to brush her G-spot, she continued to rock against his hand, soft whimpers leaving her lips periodically as the coil of desire in her stomach rapidly tightened.

Pressing her face further into her pillow, her right hand balled up the sheets in a desperate grip as her rocking and his pumping became more hurried. "Oliver... please..." She gasped out desperately, her body writhing deliciously against him as she chased her rapidly approaching orgasm.

With a smile against the soft skin of her neck where his head was still buried, he pressed a long open-mouthed kiss at the base of her neck, his tongue delicately lapping at her skin with an occasional nip of his teeth. Suddenly, he shifted his hand between her legs so he could brush the rough pad of his thumb over her clit while still working her G-spot with his middle finger.

It only took a few gentle circles over her clit, combined with all the other stimulation he was giving her, to finally trigger her orgasm.

Normally, Felicity was vocal in bed, especially during her orgasms. Right now, though, she had her face pressed deep into her pillow, her whole body bowed in pleasure and her mouth parted in a silent scream as her walls clamped down hard around his finger.

"That's it baby, come for me." He encouraged softly between more kisses along her neck, sliding his finger in and out of her slowly now as she rode out this orgasm.

When the fluttering of her walls finally slowed, Oliver slid his hand out from between her legs and out of her sweatpants entirely. Panting heavily from the intensity of that experience just now, Felicity relaxed into the bed and her grip on the sheets relented as the tension of her orgasm slowly dissipated.

Fuck if that wasn't one of the best orgasms he'd ever given her.

Just as Felicity began to regain her faculties after that almost literally mind-blowing orgasm, Oliver looped his arm back around her, his hand automatically cradling one of her breasts again as he pulled her back against him.

It didn't escape her notice that his throbbing erection was still firmly nestled between her ass cheeks, and that just the feel of it somehow lit yet another fire in her abdomen for him.

Testing the waters, she slowly rolled her hips, her ass grinding against his erection and pulling a strangled groan from him as his hand flexed around her breast.

She smirked. He was still game, good.

Slipping her right hand under the covers, she reached behind herself without a word and fumbled around for a moment before coming into contact with the waistband of his pants. Pulling her hips away from his for a moment, he started to chase after her until Felicity tugged his waistband down. With the awkward angle though, she wasn't able to completely release him from his cage, but Oliver quickly understood what she wanted and replaced her hand with his own as he tugged his pants down just over his ass until his cock finally sprang free.

When Oliver took over the job of freeing himself, Felicity went to work sliding her own pants down to her mid-thigh. Reaching back behind herself again, she took him into her hand and steadied him as she lined him up between her thighs until his tip was pressed between her cheeks and right against her entrance.

Turning her head, she looked over her shoulder at him, her heated gaze meeting his equally hungry one. Wrapping his large hand around her waist, he leaned forward to capture her lips in a sloppy and slightly awkward kiss due to their positions, but neither of them cared. Pulling away from the kiss, Oliver pressed his hips forward, easily sliding into her with a soft groan. Holding their positions for just a moment, Felicity slipped her hand out from between them to grip the bed sheets again as Oliver slid his hand from her waist to curl his whole arm around her so he could hold her close.

Burying his face in her neck again, Oliver moved ever so slowly behind her, rolling his hips in a rhythmic motion as he slid in and out of her slick heat while managing to stay mostly sheathed. His thrusting stayed, for the most part, very controlled, despite a few sharper ones on occasion. The softer, slower pace surprised her, but what surprised her the most was how much she enjoyed it.

There was something altogether different about the way he was gently rocking into her, his hot breath fanning over her neck, as their bodies slicked with a thin sheen of sweat moved together with practiced precision. But, she didn't dwell on it as she simply let the desire she felt for him in his moment wash over her instead.

"Mmm, Felicity." He moaned quietly against her heated skin as his thrusting gained some urgency, though only slightly, signaling he was nearing his release.

Uncurling his arm from his tight hold around her front, Oliver slipped two fingers between her legs again to brush her clit. A throaty moan bubbled up from her when his fingers started rubbing gentle, practiced circles over her clit again, her walls fluttering around him as she rapidly neared her second orgasm.

Panting heavily as she rocked back and forth with him, she reached a shaky hand behind herself, sliding her fingers into his messy hair. Curling her fingers around his locks, she gripped him desperately as the burning fire of her next orgasm slowly started to spread, threatening to consume her with its scorching heat.

"Oliver." She moaned breathlessly, arching herself into him a little more as zips of electricity from his stimulation of her clit turned her rhythmic rocking into small erratic thrusts of her hips, making sure she never pulled too far away from him though.

His panting became desperate as he finally started to thrust into her from behind with the normal sort of wild abandon she was used to as he sought his release. Tilting his hips, he gently rolled them to their left a little bit so he had a little more downward leverage. A few more powerful thrusts from this new angle was all it took as his teeth clamped down painfully into the meat of her shoulder and for his hips to press tightly into her backside as he spilled himself into her with a long groan of satisfaction.

Rolling her hips over his length a few more times, his fingers still working her clit while he shivered with the last few spurts of his orgasm, Felicity came around him with another muffled moan as she buried her face into the mattress this time, her fingers still in his hair gripping so tightly she was sure he'd have a bald spot there later.

When his orgasm released its hold on him, he gently released her shoulder from his mouth and regrettably slid out of her as he rolled over onto his back, his chest heaving with his labored breathing from the intensity of his own orgasm. As he regained the feeling in his limbs, Oliver forced his arms to move as he used the last of his strength to tuck himself into his pants.

Felicity pulled her sweatpants back over her hips as well as she rolled over onto her left side, curling into his side without a second thought, Oliver's arm wrapping itself around her shoulders as he welcomed her embrace.

Both entirely spent from having gone two rounds tonight, the utterly satiated pair fell asleep easily this time, lazily wrapped up in each other's arms.

* * *

When the delicious smell of brewing coffee hit her nose the next morning, Felicity blinked her eyes open slowly, her whole body stretching out as her muscles woke up from their slumber.

"Oliver?" She called softly, rolling over to face the other side of the bed, only to find it empty. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest, though she dismissed it quickly, unsure exactly why it bothered her.

His absence definitely explained the smell of coffee coming from downstairs, though.

Rolling back over, she threw her legs over the bed as she searched for her glasses on the nightstand. "Frack." She whispered when she didn't find them. She must have left them downstairs by the couch, so she'd have to do without for now.

With a tired sigh, Felicity pushed herself out of bed, making her way into his bathroom to take care of her urgent need and clean up a little bit after last night before carefully making her way downstairs sans glasses.

As she was walking over to the couch, though, Felicity misjudged the distance a little and bumped into the coffee table with her shin with a soft 'ow.' Slightly embarrassed, she frantically reached out to fetch her glasses, shoving them on as she spun around to see if Oliver had seen her moment of grace just now.

She paused at the sight that greeted her though. He was standing at the kitchen counter, whipping something up in a bowl with a whisk, and Felicity couldn't take her eyes off his forearms as they flexed rhythmically with his movements. It didn't help that he looked absolutely delicious with his dark green and blue flannel pajama pants hanging low on his hips and the plain white shirt he wore accentuating his beautifully sculpted torso.

Blinking away her perusal, Felicity slowly moved around the couch, through his open floor plan, and a little further into the kitchen. She definitely wanted to get a closer look at what he was doing because she still didn't quite believe her eyes.

"Hey." He greeted, turning his head to the left to greet her with a small smile, his gaze taking a moment to trail up her figure appreciatively, causing his eyes to darken slightly at the fact that she was still wearing his clothes.

Felicity didn't notice though because she was still so transfixed on what he was doing. "You're cooking." She blurted out, less as a question and more as a surprised statement. Never in her entire life did she imagine that he would be a man who cooks.

With an adorably confused tilt of his head, he looked down at the bowl in his arms and back up to her. "Yeah, I mean, how else would we eat breakfast?" He joked, setting down the bowl and whisk and moving over to the fridge. "Do you like blueberries in your pancakes?" He asked casually as he leaned his head into the fridge before popping back out with said blueberries in hand as well as a carton of milk.

"Uh, yeah." Felicity said absentmindedly, still in shock that he was making breakfast for them.

He set the blueberries down next to the pancake batter with a pleased smile and then moved over to the coffee maker. Deftly, he fetched a large mug from the cabinet, filled it with some fresh coffee, added a dash of sugar, and topped it off with milk. Turning back to her, he strode over to her with two graceful strides, holding out the mug to her with a smile.

Reaching out, she carefully took the offered mug, her fingers brushing his as the coffee transferred possession. Felicity took a long sip before looking up at him with another surprised look. It was perfect.

"Felicity, I bring you coffee every day." He reminded her with an amused laugh and shake of his head before turning back to finish the pancakes.

Gripping the mug tightly in both hands, she took several more long sips as she watched him get back to work, moving around the kitchen and handling the tools and appliances like a pro. And damn him because something about it got her so unbelievably hot and bothered. Maybe it was the confidence he exuded at the moment.

It took everything she had not to jump his bones right now. Instead, she forced her feet to take her over to the stools at the island where she was glad to sit and watch the show unfold before her eyes, like a child in timeout. She didn't trust herself to be close to him and she didn't want to interrupt him while he was so involved in his task.

Thankfully, he didn't take long, so Felicity's torture wasn't prolonged. When he was done, he turned off the stove before picking up two plates of pancakes and moving around the island to join her, gently setting her plate in front of her before taking his seat next to her.

Still in shock at the whole thing, Felicity looked down at the plate of perfectly fluffy blueberry pancakes, then to Oliver, and then back down to the pancakes. Licking her lips at the delicious plate of food before her, she hastily doused them in the maple syrup he had brought over as well before digging in. The moment that first bite hit her tongue, her eyes slid shut and a deep moan bubbled up in her throat as she slowly savored that bite. Of course, they were as delicious as they looked.

Swallowing, she opened her eyes to find Oliver watching her very closely, a hint of desire starting to darken his usually bright blues and a confident smirk on his lips, his own bite of pancake poised mid bite, momentarily forgotten. A bright red blush stained her cheeks when she realized why that look was in his eyes. "Um, they're really good, clearly, from the noise I just made." She rushed out before burying her embarrassment in another large mouthful of pancakes.

By the time she swallowed her next bite, her blush finally calmed down and she turned to face him again. "Seriously, I had no idea you can cook, and that you can cook so well."

Popping another bite into his mouth, he gave her a nonchalant shrug. "I'm glad you like them." He said sincerely, holding her gaze with his. "I've actually cooked for you before. Though, I doubt you remember it. Sara said you were really out of it." He revealed, glancing away from her sheepishly.

"What?" She blurted, rearing back slightly and pinning him with a very confused look. How could she not have known that he cooked for her before? If the rest of his food was anything like his pancakes, she was sure she would have remembered it. His mention of Sara, though, triggered something and suddenly the memory hit her with a gasp. "Oh, wow. Yeah, I was really out of it. That cold was a brutal one. It all makes so much sense now. I knew that food was too good to be store bought." Felicity said with a laugh, though her heart was fluttering wildly in her chest.

A couple of months ago, right after the first cold Fall day, Felicity had fallen ill with a particularly nasty cold. It was so bad she couldn't even make it into work – something she only did if she was on her deathbed, so that’s saying something. Later that day, Sara had shown up at her door bearing gifts, including a big brown paper bag full of food she could easily heat up when she felt well enough to eat. Now that she knew the truth, she wondered why Sara failed to mention that Oliver had cooked all that food for her.

"I guess I owe you a thank you." Felicity said sincerely with a bright smile.

He shrugged it off, but gave her a smile of his own. "It's no problem. Sara told me you can't cook to save your life, so I wanted to make sure you didn't starve."

Her heart fluttered again at the gesture. She was starting to think she had a heart problem though with all the fluttering her heart had done lately. "Where did you learn how to cook? I really didn't expect this from someone like you." She said before stuffing another bite of pancakes in her mouth.

"You mean for a spoiled billionaire playboy like myself?" He teased, smiling around his fork as he took another bite himself.

She let out a small squeak when she realized how terrible that sounded. She opened her mouth to apologize but he laughed it off. "I'm only teasing Felicity, relax." He said with an easy wink, bringing another light blush to her cheeks at her gaff. "My housekeeper/chef/nanny, Raisa, taught me as a child. When I wasn't giving her a heart attack with Tommy, I spent a lot of time with her in the kitchen while Mom and Dad were at work. One day, I got curious and insisted on helping her make some cookies, and the rest is history. She taught me well, I guess."

This brought a soft smile to her lips, listening to him talk about his love for this Raisa who took care of him while his parents were gone. "She sounds really amazing."

He smiled brightly at her with an enthusiastic nod. "She is. Hopefully, you'll get to meet her someday and see for yourself. I think she'd really like you." He threw out casually, turning his attention back to his pancakes for the moment.

Damn heart fluttering. That seriously couldn't be normal, could it? Then again, nothing about this was normal. It's not every day that Oliver Queen cooks for you and talks about how much his second mother would love you. She chose not to think too much into it though. They were essentially trapped inside while the blizzard still raged outside, so there wasn't really anything they could do for food. Right, yeah. So, cooking and eating together was totally normal.

The pair fell into a companionable silence for a while after that as they finished their pancakes. Well, Oliver finished his pancakes. As delicious as they were, Felicity only managed to finish three-quarters of her plate.

"All finished?" He asked softly as he hopped down from his seat next to her with his empty plate in hand.

She gave him a sheepish smile, nodding in confirmation as he picked up her plate and tossed out her remnants before depositing the dirty dishes in the dish washer.

While he took care of the dishes, Felicity slipped off her stool and padded over to his huge glass windows lining one wall, wrapping her arms around herself when the cold radiating from the glass hit her skin. The snow was still going strong outside, and from what she could see on his balcony it had snowed almost a foot overnight.

Lost in her thoughts, she felt more than heard or saw when he stepped up next to her once he was done in the kitchen. "Yikes." He said with a low whistle.

"Yeah, looks like I'm stuck here for the time being, until the snow eases up a little bit at least." She observed. "I hope that's okay?" She added quickly, glancing over at him nervously.

Looking down at her, he gave her a puzzled look. "It's no problem at all. I'm glad to have the company. I'm sort of stuck too – not much I can do either with all that snow." He explained with a soft laugh. "So, what does Felicity Smoak do on a snow day?"

Biting her lower lip, she turned her gaze back out to the rapidly falling snow. "I usually tinker or code, but I don't think you'd appreciate me destroying your appliances and I don't have my tablet on me."

He let out a loud laugh at that, shaking his head incredulously with an amused grin tugging at his lips. "Okay, so if you weren't Felicity Smoak, tech empire genius, what would you do?"

"TV?" She suggested sheepishly, her eyes flickering over the couch quickly. It sounded lame, but she did love to just veg out and watch television on occasion. The part she wasn't going to admit to him, though, was that it usually involved unhealthily long Dr. Who marathons.

His grin pulled into a bigger smile as he moved over to the couch. "Now that, I can do." He teased as he plucked the pillows off the couch he had set out for her last night before plopping down on the right side.

Felicity joined him with a small smile on her lips, curling herself into the left side of the couch, tucking her feet to her right and pulling the blanket he had left on the couch over her legs while Oliver picked up the remote to flip on the TV. "What do you like to watch? And, please don't tell me you secretly enjoy those ridiculously trashy reality TV shows Thea likes to watch."

She scrunched her nose up in disgust and shook her head vehemently. "Ew, no. It's your lucky day." He blew out a playfully relieved breath at that, pulling grin from her at his antics. "Why don't you just flip through and choose something. I'm really not picky." She added with a small shrug.

With a nod, Oliver scrolled through the channel selections before finally clicking on the Hallmark channel with a wicked grin. She furrowed her brow at his choice, glancing over to him with a slightly surprised look. "Hallmark Christmas movies, interesting choice Queen. I didn't peg you as the sappy type." She teased, bumping his thigh with her foot playfully.

"My family was always big on Christmas, so I have a soft spot for the holiday. And, what's better for a cold, snowy day than themed movies to get you into the holiday spirit?" He explained with an innocent shrug as he placed the remote on the coffee table before settling back into the couch again to get comfortable.

"You know I'm Jewish, right?" She asked with a small laugh. Who knew Oliver had such a soft side. She really was learning a lot about him today.

He looked over at her suddenly with a slightly confused but intrigued look on his face. "No. I had no idea." He said softly. "Well, good thing there's more to the movies than the Christmas theme." He added with a smile and lingering gaze before turning his attention back to the screen.

Shaking her head with an amused huff, Felicity wiggled down a little deeper into the couch, getting cozy as the pair fell into companionable silence again.

A while later, by the end of the second movie, Felicity had slowly but surely uncurled herself from her spot on the left side of the ouch until she was essentially stretched out along the length of the couch with her feet in Oliver's lap. He had adjusted too, his body and legs angled a little more to his left, though he was still sitting upright. At some point, he had even laid his left arm over her legs, his fingers slipping under the blanket and her sweatpants to absentmindedly stroke her smooth legs.

It was weird. All of this should have freaked her out. But, she found that she didn't really mind. She actually felt comfortable and completely at ease like this. The fact that it didn't scare her scared her, if that makes any sense.

"Hey, look." He said suddenly, tapping gently on her shin with his index finger to get her attention.

Looking up to him, she saw that Oliver was actually looking over her head, so she sat up a little, her feet slipping from his lap as she twisted to look out his windows. It had finally stopped snowing!

"Looks like you might finally be able to get home." He added in a tight voice.

The smile that had appeared on her face at the news quickly became a frown instead. There was just one problem. "I bet my car is completely snowed in." She said, turning to face him again, her lips pinched together thoughtfully.

Oliver hummed contemplatively at that, his gaze drifting to a random spot in the room as he drummed his fingers against his thigh. "Wanna go on an adventure Smoak?" He suggested with a grin as his eyes found her's again.

Felicity tilted her head to her left, clearly confused.

He laughed a little at that. "I was thinking, we could get ready and venture outside to see what the damage is. If it's not too bad, I'll bring my snow shovel along and we can try and dig out your car."

"That would be great, but um I don't have warm enough clothes on me. I didn't come prepared for the blizzard of the century when I came over last night." Felicity countered, biting her lip.

Oliver waved a hand. "You forget that I live here. I've got spare winter clothing you can borrow. C'mon, this'll be fun!"

And that's how Felicity found herself standing outside Oliver's building in knee deep snow, bundled up in one of his huge Canada Goose parkas and one of his beanies (she was secretly beginning to enjoy wearing his things because they smelled just like him), not twenty minutes later. Oliver stood next to her, looking somehow incredibly handsome all bundled up like he was in a matching coat and hat, leaning on the snow shovel he brought with him. Other than them and the snow plows, there wasn't another soul that dared to venture out into this weather.

"Well, at least they're clearing the roads. That'll make it safer for you to try and get home." He commented, his breath coming out in hot puffs that cooled into visible wisps in the chilly air. "So, which one is your car?"

Felicity nibbled on her lower lip that was already chapping in the cold, dry air. They had gotten so much snow that it was difficult to tell. Fortunately, she was pretty sure she remembered approximately where she parked last night. "I think it's over this way..." She hypothesized as she took off to their left, having to lift her knee almost to her hip with every step she took, no doubt making her look utterly ridiculous.

After passing the first few cars on the street, Felicity stepped up to one and brushed some of the snow off only to huff in annoyance when she didn't see the familiar coloring of her Mini Cooper under the thick blanket.

"Are you sure you know where it is?" Oliver teased behind her, standing a little off to the side to wait for her while she searched.

"Shush you!" She called back to him as she moved over to the next car. Bingo! When the snow fell off the side of the car, it revealed the blue, white and red coloring she'd been looking for. "I told you I knew where it was!" She proclaimed proudly. She had found her car, but, unfortunately, because it was so compact, it looked like it was a little more buried under the snow than the others around it.

"I never doubted you." He said softly, which she almost didn't catch because a biting wind blew by at that moment, almost taking his words with it. Stepping up to her left, Oliver stuck the shovel into the snow again and blew out a long breath. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, huh. You clear the car itself, and I'll clear the area around it?" He suggested, tilting his head to look down at her.

"You got it boss." She teased with a smirk, hoping he'd catch the joke.

His loud laugh surprised her a little, but made her grin. "Boss... I like the sound of that." He grinned with a playful wink that actually made her heart flutter a little as he moved over to her car to start working on the monstrous task ahead of them.

With them working together, and taking advantage of the synchronicity they'd developed while working together as CEO and EA, Felicity was chipping off the last few pieces of ice from her nearly spotless car right as Oliver finished digging her out not thirty minutes later.

She was about to spin around and check on him when she felt a pair of strong arms loop around her waist, lifting her up into the air and spinning her around. Before she could get her bearings and figure out what exactly was happening, she found herself flying through the air until she landed back first into the giant pile of snow Oliver built while digging her out.

Sputtering a little, Felicity swiped at her face furiously to clear the cold, stinging snow from her heated skin before righting her glasses that had gone askew during the whole ordeal. As soon as she could see again, she looked up to see Oliver standing over her with a giant shit-eating grin on his face. "Oliver?!" She huffed out in annoyance as she climbed out of the pile of snow, dusting herself off.

He was still grinning at her, clearly proud of himself. "Come on, you know what they say about all work and no play."

Okay, she did love playing in the snow – she was from Vegas after all. With his actions though, he'd officially started a war she was determined to win. Her initial annoyance quickly morphed into a demure grin as she shuffled over to him until the front of her jacket brushed his. Oliver had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

Placing her hands on his chest, she pressed herself into him a little more. "I like a different kind of fun after work." She purred (pun very intended this time), tilting her head up until their lips were a breath away, looking from his lips up to his eyes through her snowy lashes.

His earlier bravado disappeared instantly when he realized what she was suggesting. With his tongue peeking out to lick his lips, Oliver's eyes bore into hers as a small smile curled the right side of his mouth. "I like where this is..."

When she felt his arms start to come up to wrap around her waist, she made her move. Grabbing his right hand, she used her right foot to bump the back of his left knee, causing him to crumple as she tugged on his hand and pressed on his chest with her other hand to spun them around. In one smooth motion, she managed to flip their positions, fling him into the snow pile where she had been thrown just minutes ago.

Staring down at his utterly shocked, confused, yet slightly proud face, she smirked back at him and crossed her arms over her chest proudly. She'd have to tell Sara later that she successfully used one of the self-defense moves they'd been working on together.

On second thought, best not. She didn't want to try to explain to their mutual friend why she had ended up spending the day with Oliver and why she employed the self-defense move in the first place. Nope, that was not a conversation she wanted to have. So, she settled for internally knowing that Sara would be proud of her.

"Oh, it's on now Smoak." He grinned evilly as he lifted himself from the snow pile, his predatory gaze completely fixed on her.

Felicity's eyes widened momentarily before she realized what was about to happen and then took off running for his building. She knew she'd be safe if she could get inside, but the depth of the snow and her short legs made running away from him too difficult. She knew it was futile, but she had to try.

As she predicted, he caught up to her in three of his long strides, wrapping his arms around her waist and tackling her into the snow again, rolling as they went down so he took the brunt of the fall. Before she could get oriented again after the fall, he flipped them over so his body was settled between her legs, effectively pinning her down now.

Her blue eyes instantly clashed with his, their hot, heavy breaths of air condensed and mixing together between them. Not that she'd never noticed before, but Oliver looked particularly handsome in this moment. His eyes were darkened with his desire and from the adrenaline no doubt coursing through his veins, but the dusting of snow lingering on his face and clothes gave him a softer look. Something about the contrast of the two seriously turned her on.

"That was evil, teasing me like that." He growled, dipping his head down, brushing his nose against her jaw.

"What's fair is fair." She gasped out as Oliver pressed a kiss behind her ear, dragging his lips across her jaw until they hovered over her mouth.

"Indeed." He smirked, rolling his hips teasingly against hers, though he never closed the distance between their lips.

An involuntary shiver passed through her, not from the cold though. No, she was anything but cold at the moment.

Oliver pulled back though, all the desire suddenly washed from his gaze and replaced with worry. "Shit, you must be cold and wet from the snow. I wasn't even thinking, I'm so sorry." He said as he quickly scrambled to his feet, pulling her up with him. "Come on, let's get inside and warm up."

Like Oliver, Felicity's mood instantly switched as the reality of what had (almost) happened washed over her. Anxiety gripped her heart. Though there was no one around, what had just transpired definitely bordered on a public display of affection. Maybe it was for the best that her shiver halted whatever was about to happen on the ground.

Clearing her throat, she dropped her gaze to the ground as she halfheartedly attempted to dust the snow off her body so she didn't track too much of it inside. "Yeah, let's head in. I didn't realize how long we've been outside." She murmured.

Oblivious to Felicity's sudden awkwardness, Oliver hastily went back over to Felicity's car to retrieve his shovel, then followed Felicity back up to his apartment. The entire journey up to his place, neither of them spoke, the silence only a little stiff and mostly from Felicity's end.

As soon as they crossed his threshold, they both started to remove their winter clothes. Felicity was surprised to find that she was more cold and wet than she had realized as a different kind of shiver shook her shoulders this time the moment the warmth of his apartment hit her skin.

Coming over to her, Oliver bent down and picked up the jacket, hat and scarf she had already deposited onto the floor and bundled them in his arms as he righted himself. He was standing so close to her that she could feel his natural warmth rolling off his body and blanketing her chilled skin in its comforting embrace. She wanted nothing more than to lean into him, for Oliver to just hold her in his warm arms as they helped each other warm up.

Only when Oliver spoke again did she realized that she was _actually_ starting to lean in his direction and quickly righted herself. "Why don't you go up and take a warm shower and change? There's spare towels in the bathroom somewhere." He offered softly with a smile.

Blinking rapidly, she nodded dumbly at him. "Sure." She said automatically, her brain about a million miles away though as she turned abruptly and forced her legs to carry her upstairs to his room.

No more than thirty minutes later, Felicity came back downstairs dressed in the same outfit she had arrived in last night complete with her much lighter winter coat, purse slung over her shoulder, and all.

Turning the corner at the base of the stairs, she found Oliver kneeling in front of the fresh fire he was his tending. A flash of yearning pinched her heart at the sight. It didn't take him long to realize she was back. His head swiveled to his right to look at her, but the smile on his lips faded the moment he did. Slowly, his eyebrows pinched together and the corner of his lips turned down quickly before he caught himself. "You're leaving?"

Fiddling with the handles of her purse, Felicity nodded. "Yeah, it's getting late and I want to make it home before it gets too dark." She explained. It was true, but it was also not true. She wanted to stay. It would be easy for her to stay and get lost in... _this_. But, at the same time, that was exactly why she needed to go.

Felicity shuffled on her feet a little under his gaze. "Thank you for letting me stay over last night, and for everything today." She added quickly when he didn't respond right away.  
Snapping out of it, Oliver set the metal poker down on the ledge of the fireplace before standing up and approaching her. "Of course. I'll see you Monday, then." He said softly, but his eyes said something else entirely. That look he sometimes got when she left his place every night was back. There was something different about it now that she couldn't quite name, though she recognized it because she was pretty sure she felt it too.

She got lost for a minute his hopeful gaze before forcing herself to give him a small smile and finally respond. "Yup. Don't forget, the interviews start bright and early at 9 am." She advised as she moved to his front door, finally tearing her gaze away from his.

"Good night, Oliver." She called softly over her shoulder.

"Text me when you get home!" He managed to blurt out just before she shut the door behind her.

When she looked over her shoulder, she met his desperate and concerned eyes. "I mean, I just want to make sure you get there okay. The roads still aren't totally safe." He added quickly with a light but forced chuckle.

Felicity's heart stuttered in her chest as she considered him for a moment. Always so attentive. "Of course. Night." She breathed out eventually with a quick smile and nod before finally pulling his door shut.

As she walked away from his apartment and took the elevator back down to the lobby of his building, her chest constricted a little, a feeling that worsened as the elevator got farther and farther away from his floor. She had a feeling that she knew what was causing the ache.

Today had been good, amazing even. Just the thought of it all brought a little smile to her face and lessened the ache in her chest.

She had allowed herself to get comfortable around Oliver today in a way that she never had before. Every single thing they had done in the last 18 hours or so blurred the boundary between their normally separate private and public relationships. And she hadn't even noticed, nor let it bother her until now. In truth, it didn't actually bother her. She kind of liked it. She had enjoyed seeing this other side of Oliver, the caring and attentive Oliver that no one ever saw besides his closest friends and family.

She wanted to see more of that Oliver. She wanted to spend more days just curled up on the couch with him, only this time in his arms. She wanted to roll around in the snow with him and make out like a couple of horny teenagers. She wanted to watch him cook for them, and then have sex on those beautiful granite countertops of his when it all became too much for her. She wanted to spend more nights wrapped up in his arms after they have sex, only to wake up and have more mind-blowing sex whenever they wanted. She wanted all of it.

 _Wait... what?_ She reeled, those thoughts surprising her.

Then, Felicity's eyes widened slowly. "Oh my god..." She gasped quietly.

Somewhere, over the very loud warning bells going off in her head, she heard the ding of the elevator as the doors slid open to deposit her at the ground floor. But, she didn't move. She couldn't. Because it hit her.

"I think I'm falling in love with him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo big things happened! Thoughts? Comments? I always love to hear from you guys!


	6. Termination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anddd we're back! It took a while, and I can't thank you enough for being so patient.
> 
> This probably isn't the kind of chapter you were hoping for, but we're building up to the moment you've all been waiting for, so we have to hit a low before we can get to that high. Despite that, there's a fun little tidbit in here that I know some of you guys might have been interested in seeing, so I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy guys :)

Oliver shifted uncomfortably in the plush leather chair he was currently occupying. The thumb and forefinger of his left hand rubbed together repetitively. His other hand was curled painfully around a pen, a pen that he was supposed to be using on the pad of paper in his lap. But the page he was on only contained a few sparse notes and had been untouched for quite some time now.

Jack, Jake, or maybe it was Jason... whomever this kid was, he had just reached out a hand and gently touched Felicity's forearm and flashed yet another blindingly white smile at her. "I want nothing more than to come work for someone as remarkable as you are Ms. Smoak." To which Felicity responded with a thanks for his praise, ducking her gaze from his shyly as a light blush tinted her cheeks.

His eyes zeroed in on the kid's hand. A soft pop was heard from the flimsy plastic pen in Oliver's hand. But he couldn't care less. He couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from the scene before him. And, it had been like this for the entirety of this kid's interview too.

For the last thirty agonizing minutes, Oliver had watched this generically charming young man flirt with Felicity for the duration of his Executive Assistant interview, and watched as Felicity reacted positively to every one of the classic flirting tactics the kid was using. Okay, maybe she wasn't encouraging the kid – that was definitely an exaggeration of his clearly jealous side -, but she wasn't exactly shutting down his antics either.

What bothered Oliver most about it all though wasn't so much the witty lines he gave her that she ate up, nor the overly forced charming smiles that Felicity returned with her own beautiful smile. No, it was the little touches here and there that felt like they were stabbing him in the chest.

Oliver hadn't touched her in almost a week, and it was slowly killing him.

Ever since the night she had stayed over at his house because of the freak snow storm, Felicity had been distant with him. Not just emotionally, but physically. She seemed to be making sure that he never got too close, always carefully placing herself at a respectable distance from him whenever he was around. There had been accidental brushes, sure, but it wasn't enough.

That meant their nightly encounters had stopped after that night too. The first night after she stayed over, he wasn't too worried when she didn't show up because he figured she had a lot to catch up on after the surprise snow storm. By the second night, he wondered if something was wrong. When she still didn't reach out to him, and when he started noticing that she was purposefully keeping her distance from him, he had his answer, though he didn't know why.

But, he didn't dare ask. Felicity was in control of this ride, something unspoken but clearly understood, ever since the beginning. So, he respected her distance without question, even if it killed him.

So, it tore him up to watch this young hot shot so casually touch what he could not. He knew this emotion too. It was white hot jealously, and it felt like it was going to burn him up from the inside out if this kept up any longer.

"Why thank you Mr. Kosinski, that is quite flattering. Unless you have any more questions, I believe I have everything I need to make my determination." Came Felicity's response. It was neutral, to the point, and business-like from Felicity. Nothing like the Felicity _he_ knew. Still...

The pair across from him stood in sync, with this Mr. Kosinski giving Felicity a lingering handshake paired with one last charming smile before exiting the office, but not without shooting an odd look at Oliver who hadn't stood up or said a word the entire time.

After the interviewee's departure, Felicity moved about the office again, collecting a few things here and there and returning them to her desk. Oliver, however, still hadn't moved, opting to silently fume in his chair, the frustration of the last week mounting rapidly as Felicity continued to ignore him.

"You can't hire him." He blurted out finally, his voice hard and unyielding.

The rapid click of her heels on the ground met his ears before she was suddenly in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. She was angry, but so was he. "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

"I said, you can't hire that guy as your Executive Assistant."

"And why not?"

"He's not in it for the job."

Felicity reared back at the accusation and raised a challenging eyebrow at him. She wasn't calling his bluff. "And just what do you mean by that, Oliver? Please, enlighten me."

Pressing his lips into a thin line, he huffed out a frustrated breath through his nostrils. He shouldn't have said anything. This is bordering on dangerous territory, and Felicity seemed determined to make him cross the line.

Then, he notices the characteristic fire burning in her eyes that he admires so much, and he knows he's about to be on the receiving end of her loud voice. He's not surprised. He deserves it. "What the hell is going on with you? First, you sit there with this growly look on your face during the entire interview, looking like a petulant child and honestly behaving so rudely to James ( _So, that was the kid's name_ ), and now you have the audacity to tell me not to hire someone just because you don't like them. What gives you the right?"

Oliver stayed silent. Felicity is so close to pressing the one button he knows they won't come back from because he could never lie to her.

"What is this really about, Oliver?" She tries again, pressing a little harder and a little deeper.

He can't help it. The thumb and forefinger of his left hand start up their repetitive motion, a dead giveaway for his anxiety. He notices Felicity's eyes pick up the movement too, and it takes everything he's got to utter the next words out of his mouth. "It's nothing. I'm sorry, I was out of line." He responds back tightly, though trying to lace his words with as much sincere regret as he could, hoping this would blow over.

Felicity eyed him critically, her own lips pursed in disbelief. "I don't believe you. So, until you can get your head out of your ass, you won't be assisting me with the remainder of the interviews today. I can't have you scaring off potentially good candidates with whatever this is that's making you behave so rudely." She commanded firmly, turning her back on him and making her way back to her desk.

"What?!" He stuttered out in shock, jumping up from his seat and spinning to face her, incredulity in his eyes at her orders.

"You heard me. I suggest you go home for the weekend and sort out whatever this is." She says, dismissing him brusquely without looking at him as she focuses on her computer instead.

"Felicity..." He tries desperately. He could feel the last tenuous threads of whatever they had between them slipping through his fingers.

For a moment, he thought he might have a second chance when Felicity's typing slowed. "I'll see you on Monday, Mr. Queen." She said quietly, her voice oddly monotone and her eyes still focused on her computer as she slowly resumed her typing.

Her dismissal was clear – and he's not just talking about being sent home. She had used his formal title in what felt like the final nail in the coffin.

Opening and closing his mouth a few times, he watched her with his desperate eyes, hoping she would look at him and see how sorry he was, how much he missed her, how much he just wanted to go back to the way things were. But, she never did. She was resolute in her decision.

Turning to go, he stopped in the threshold of her door, his shoulders sagged in defeat as he looked back. He just couldn't leave like that. "I'll see you on Monday, Felicity. And for what it's worth, I really am sorry for my behavior. It was out of line."

With that, and one last longing look, Oliver reluctantly let the door close quietly behind him. It seemed like an oddly poignant metaphor at the moment, one he wasn't ready to dwell on.

Hopefully his last week at Smoak Tech won't end as disastrously as this week had.

* * *

Oliver leaned back in his office chair and spread his palms wide on the glass desk in front of him. He tapped his fingers over the smooth surface, his eyes quickly glancing to the bottom right corner of his empty computer screen.

5:49 pm.

He planned on leaving around 5 pm like every other day, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. As 5 pm came and went, Felicity had been in a late afternoon meeting and had yet to return at the time, and he couldn't bring himself to leave without saying goodbye... even as distant as they had become in the last week or so. So, he agreed with himself to wait until she returned, and then that was it. He had to go. He had to move on.

The only problem: Felicity had been back for almost twenty minutes now.

Nervously swiveling his gaze around the deserted lobby of the executive floor, Oliver did his best to distract himself for just a few more minutes... and maybe figure out exactly what he was going to say to Felicity when he did finally say goodbye. He corrected the angle of the keyboard three times, making sure it was just right. He rotated and pushed around the cup with all the pens and miscellaneous office supplies no less than five times to get it to the right spot. He opened every drawer twice, and double checked his lone box with all of his belongings to make sure he had everything. Though, he was half tempted to leave something important behind on purpose...

Desperately, his eyes flicked back and forth over his desk. There was nothing left to do. No more i's to dot. No more t's to cross. It was time.

Inhaling a long, shaky breath, Oliver slowly pushed himself away from his desk, gingerly tucked the chair back into its perfect spot, and gave his desk one last longing sweep with his eyes. Straightening up a little, he shifted his gaze over to Felicity, never taking his eyes off her as he moved over to her glass office door.

Gently, he knocked his fingers against the glass.

He had tried not to startle her, since she seemed engrossed with something on her computer, but, clearly, he wasn't entirely successful when she jumped a little in her seat and her eyes shot to his in surprise. When she finally recovered, she waved him in as she looked back to her computer in surprise, and then back to him.

"Wow, I didn't realize it had gotten so late." She said a little distractedly as he stepped into her office.

She seemed frazzled, all of the sudden. Her eyes were roaming around her office like they were looking for something, and that little crease had appeared between her brows which meant she was thinking.

Maybe... despite how their fling had ended, despite how much of an ass he made of himself last week... maybe she was sad to see him go too.

"Yeah, I um, I'm finally heading out, thank-"

Felicity sprung from her chair suddenly, holding her finger up at him, though still not quite looking at him. "Stop right there. Not yet..." She mumbled before crossing the room, heading for a set of drawers he hadn't seen her use often in the last seven months he had been working for her.

"I don't want to keep you-" He tried again. He had no idea what she was doing, but the sooner he got his goodbye over with, the less painful he hoped it would be.

Like ripping off a band aid.

"I said stop! Geez. Sometimes I wonder if you ever listen to me." She grumbled again as she pulled open a few drawers before quickly closing them again, apparently unable to find what she was looking for.

On the fourth drawer, one on the very bottom row, Felicity crouched down and retrieved something from the very back. "Ah hah! That’s where I hid you." She triumphantly mumbled to herself this time, no doubt thinking he couldn't hear her.

His lips curled into a brief smile, despite himself. That was one of her most endearing quirks.

When Felicity finally spun around, his eyes widened slightly and his head tilted to the right as his eyes landed on her treasure. "Vodka? You have a hidden stash of vodka. How long have you had that in here?" He teased, a slight smile curling his lips. Even now, he was still learning something new about her.

Felicity moved across the room, grabbing two glasses from another table before moving over to the couches in the corner of her office. "Too long. I bought it thinking every executive has to have some kind of nice alcohol on hand should the occasion to use it presents itself. I've just never had reason before, so I forgot where I hid it." She said with a soft laugh as she took a seat on one couch, patting a spot on the adjacent couch to tell Oliver to join her.

Licking his lips, he slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks as he glanced between her and the spot she had indicated to. He doubted this was intentional, but in this moment, at the close of this chapter, he couldn't help but recall their first night together that had started on the very couch she wanted him to sit on. A pang of longing accompanying that memory made his heart stutter painfully, but he pushed through and walked over to join her.

His unsure eyes watched her as he took his seat. "And you've finally found an occasion?" He prompted, subtly wiping his hands on his slacks once he was seated.

As she finished pouring out a generous shot for each of them, she glanced back up to him. "Haven't I?" She suggested seriously. For the first time in weeks, she held his gaze. Her eyes were bluer than he'd ever seen them, but the sadness there cut him deeply. Probably because he felt it too.

Clearing his throat, he broke their gaze and reached out for the glass nearest to himself. Holding it aloft between them, Felicity followed his lead. " _Prochnost_." Oliver said lowly in near perfect Russian, tapping his glass against hers.

Felicity's head tilted and one of her brows lifted.

"It means something along the lines of strength and durability in Russian. I spent a few summers in Russia with my father when I was a teenager, and I became fond of the saying. It feels right for this moment. " He said with a shrug, easily answering her silent question.

She contemplated him for a moment, clearly mulling the word over in her head before giving a tiny nod. " _Prochnost_ , then." She echoed with a small smile, tapping her glass against his.

Both downed the shot quickly. Oliver let his eyes slide shut as the liquid burned its way down his throat, instantly warming him. Felicity was right, this was the perfect occasion for this.

When he opened his eyes again a moment later, Felicity was placing her glass down again on the table like nothing had happened. He smirked a little at that. She really is something else.

"We've really come a long way since that first week, huh?" She asked suddenly into the quiet room, her voice no louder than a whisper.

He laughed softly at that, leaning back against the couch to get comfortable. "I really didn't think I was going show up to the office again after the way that week ended. Then again, you do have a way with words, Felicity." He said with a smile.

"Honestly, me either." Felicity snorted as she poured another shot into both of their glasses, and held his up for him to take again. "Here's to my magic tongue then." She said as she lifted her glass into the air.

His glass was halfway to meeting hers in the middle when he hesitated. _Did she just...._

That vixen. He prayed that her slip up was an accident caused by the alcohol already affecting her filter because the memories flashing through his mind were absolutely torturous if she said that on purpose.

Chancing a glance at her, she looked none the wiser, nor smug, so he assumed it was a slip of the tongue (excuse the pun). Clearing his throat, he tapped his glass against hers. "To your magic tongue." He repeated, quickly downing his shot.

* * *

_**Seven Months Ago** _

The high-pitched, fake laughter of yet another woman filtered through the glass barrier and into her office, once again disrupting her concentration.

Felicity threw a fleeting glare over her left shoulder at the buxom and disgustingly flirtatious brunette perched on her EA's desk before forcing herself to get back to work. Though her EA didn't care about the work they did, that didn't mean Felicity's performance had to suffer too.

This was his third visitor in almost as many days since he had started working for her. Clearly, "Ollie" lived up to his reputation.

Which is exactly why Moira had approached her a few months ago about taking him on as her Executive Assistant after Moira caught wind of the news that Felicity's old EA was due to retire soon. Felicity knew Moira hoped she could somehow work a miracle and make her son find his way again, but who were they kidding. She is three years his junior and clearly someone he has no respect for to start with, so nope, no miracles here.

Still, Felicity promised Moira she would try with him. She just hoped she could make it through his agreed contract period without killing him first.

Grabbing her extra-large coffee mug from where it sat on her desk, she brought it to her lips and took a long sip of the beverage, hoping the familiar comfort of her coffee would calm her frayed nerves. But, the fake and a little too loud laughter was back again. Felicity winced slightly at the noise as she calmly placed her coffee mug down again.

Turning her annoyed gaze back to the scene on the other side of her glass walls, Felicity took a moment to eye the pair. Well... a moment to eye Oliver, really.

She couldn't blame the girl currently sitting on his desk for acting like she was. Maybe, if Felicity wasn't his boss and if she didn't know exactly the type of man he was, she might find herself flirting with Oliver too because holy frack he was blessed with some good genes. But, that still didn't excuse his behavior.

During her inspection of him, it was like he sensed her gaze because his eyes slowly drifted away from the girl and over to hers. It took him a moment to register the annoyed look on her face, but when he did, the charming smile he had been wearing for the girl fell a little as he held Felicity's gaze. As quickly as that moment happened though, it faded just as fast when Oliver promptly ignored her, lifting his lips into a wide smile again and returning his attention to his companion.

Felicity pinched her lips together and narrowed her eyes. He really didn't give a shit, did he?

Unfortunately, his constant visitors weren't his only offense. Besides the girls he had visiting him at all hours of the day and keeping him from his work, he had shown up either late to work, or hungover, or both every day this week, and then proceeded to get almost no work done for the few hours that he was actually in the office, and Felicity could already see the effects of his poor performance trickling down throughout her company.

Every day, Felicity repeated the promise she made Moira to herself, hoping it would magically make things better, but she was finally at her wits end. And it had only been five days.

At the moment, she didn't care whether he liked her or not because she was done with his lack of respect for her. If he doesn't want to be here, then she'd find someone who does and apologize to Moira later. She had a company to run, and not even Oliver Queen was an exception to that fact.

Without another thought, Felicity shoved herself back from her desk and walked purposefully over to the door separating them, schooling her features into a mask of indifference.  
Pulling open the door, Felicity leaned out into the lobby and painted a small smile on her lips. "Mr. Queen, please tell your guest goodbye. I think we need to have a word." She said, addressing Oliver only, not even bothering to look at the girl.

Immediately, Oliver swiveled his gaze to hers, the smile falling from his face again as he took in the clear agitation she hid behind her smile.

"But Ollie, you promised to take me to lunch." The girl whined, stroking her hand over his chest.

He slowly turned his head towards his companion, but his gaze was slower to follow. With a quick glance at the girl, his conjured up his charming personality again, but this time it was for Felicity as he looked back to her with a big smile. "C'mon, Felicity, I can't-"

The smile fell from her lips. She was done attempting to be nice. "Two things Mr. Queen: one, I said I would like a word with you, and that is non-negotiable, and two, it's Ms. Smoak."

With that, and one last long look at Oliver's slightly stunned face to tell him she was serious, she leaned back into her office, spun on her heel, and proudly walked back to her desk.

After a minute or two of faint whining from the girl and mumbled promises of 'I'll call you later' from Oliver, which Felicity undoubtedly knew he would not follow through on, the girl was finally gone.

While Felicity absentmindedly typed away on her computer, she watched him out of the corner of her eye.

He stood in front of her door for a minute, and she thought he even looked a little ashamed and hesitant. She watched him shuffle on his feet a few more times before finally slipping a hand out of his pocket and carefully pushing open her door. "Fe- um, Ms. Smoak..." He started cautiously as he approached her desk.

Spinning a little to her left to face him fully, her unamused stare silenced him and halted his steps instantly. "You know what your Mom said when she asked me to hire you?" She asked him, and paused for a moment even though she knew he didn't know the answer.

"She said 'help him.' That's it. Well, that's not true, there were more words, but that's she gist of what she asked me. However, what made your Mom think that I could be the one to help you, I'll never know." Felicity bit out with a scoff.

"That's not tru-" Oliver meekly tried to respond but Felicity held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm not finished." She cut in.

"I know you don't respect me or the position. That much is clear by your behavior these first few days." She paused again, waiting for him to respond, to come up with some witty retort, but there was nothing this time. Just the look of embarrassment slowly seeping into his eyes.

"And while I owe Moira and your late father a lot, I will not allow your disinterest to slowly create chaos within the company I have worked so hard to rebuild since it unexpectedly fell into my lap a few years ago." She bit out, letting loose some of the frustration that had been building all week regarding his behavior, which definitely earned a small flinch from the source of said frustration.

Realizing how harsh she sounded (though, in her opinion, he needed the wake-up call), Felicity closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "That being said, I don't know what it is, but I want to believe in you – believe in the man your mom thinks you're capable of being."

"I guess I just have one of those faces." He offered with a soft laugh and toothy grin. It didn't escape her notice that there was something different about that smile than the one she had seen on his face earlier, but that quickly slipped her mind.

Though she couldn't help her initial reaction to his quip as her lips curled into an involuntary smile, Felicity quickly schooled her features again into an unamused look at his attempted humor to which he had the decency to cringe at. She was trying to prove a point, and no matter how well-meaning his humor might have been, it wasn't exactly helping his case.

"It might surprise you, but I know exactly what you're going through. When my own father died, leaving his ill-prepared, fresh-out-of-college, grieving daughter to run his company, I wanted no part of it. Sure, I knew I was going to come work here eventually, but I thought I had more time.

"The difference is, I would have given anything to have the opportunity you're wasting away right now. I almost bankrupted the company in my first month as it's CEO because, until that point, all I was good at was anything and everything that had to do with computers. And let me tell you, that knowledge doesn't come in handy while trying to negotiate with angry board members who don't know the difference between a 0 and a 1." Felicity laughed out.

Unfortunately, just like the people she was referring to, the joke passed right over Oliver's head, leaving him adorably confused, and probably a little more than concerned about his boss' sanity.

Clearing her throat, Felicity let the humor fade from her face as she pressed on again. "Regardless, I worked hard to make sure I made my parents proud. I had to learn how to be a businesswoman all by myself, all while being looked down upon my entire career by men like yourself who think that someone like me doesn't have a place in this world and can't possibly keep a business afloat. Yet, here I am, still the proud CEO of Smoak Tech, so I guess I've done something right."

At that, Oliver started to open his mouth, his face looking extremely apologetic. She had a feeling she knew why he was going to interject, but she had gotten over the judgement she usually received from her male counter-parts years ago, so she held up her hand to silence him as she continued on.

"You've been given the chance to ease into what was dropped in my lap unexpectedly, and I suggest you take the opportunity, Mr. Queen. I would hate to see you squander the legacy your mother and father worked very hard to build." Felicity advised seriously in a flat tone, fixing him with an equally as serious gaze, making sure he understood her.

When she thought he got the message, Felicity turned back to her computer and resumed her work. "Now, if you want to man up and make your Mom proud, which I know you are certainly capable of, I'll see you Monday morning bright and early, _sober_ , and ready to work. If not, then I guess this is goodbye and give Moira my condolences. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She tossed over her shoulder dismissively.

It took a moment, during which she was quite aware of Oliver's intense staring, but eventually her door opened and closed softly, and Felicity was sure that was the end of it.

So, come Monday morning, Felicity was legitimately surprised by what greeted her. Oliver Queen was already seated at his desk, pouring over and organizing the giant stack of memos on his desk that he had slacked off on the previous week, and a large, steaming cup of coffee (already prepared with cream and sugar) accompanied by a cronut from her favorite bakery had mysteriously appeared on her desk...

* * *

_**Present Day** _

"Oh my gosh, and do you remember the time Milton from Accounting brought me his computer claiming it was a 'virus' that made that porn constantly pop up on his screen. I've never heard a bigger lie in my life." Felicity laughed out through her near uncontrollable giggles at the memory.

A big smile curled Oliver's lips, but it was more for Felicity than about the memory. "Of course. The poor guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack, asking the CEO to look at that." He said with a deep laugh of his own.

They had been at it for the last hour or so – sharing random memories, sharing a lot of laughs, and definitely taking a few more shots. As a matter of fact, the bottle was a little less than half full now.

It was... nice. Of course, there was a giant elephant in the room, as a certain set of memories were a no-go zone, but still. With as distant as Felicity had been towards him lately, it was nice to have this brief moment with her, and know that they wouldn't totally end things on a low note.

Checking his watch for the first time in what felt like forever, the laughter on his lips died out quickly and his smile disappeared just as fast.

It was almost 8 pm.

If it were up to him, and if things were different, he would stay here all night with her, reliving old memories and maybe even making new ones. But, the fact remained that his time with her was over, in every aspect, and it would only make this more painful if he prolonged his goodbye.

"What?" Felicity asked seriously, finally noticing the shift in his demeanor.

Oliver looked at her for a moment before diverting his eyes out the window behind her. "It's getting late." He said simply, but he knew it was what he left unsaid that she would understand.

"Oh." Came her meek reply, her voice sounding oddly sober now.

Wiping his hands on his slacks, he looked around the room briefly before awkwardly standing from the couch. It took a brief moment, but Felicity eventually stood with him.

Glancing from her to the city behind her and then back to her, Oliver shuffled on his feet a little as he contemplated his next move. Nervously sliding his left hand into the pocket of his slacks, he hovered his right hand between them as a gesture for a handshake. It seemed so formal, but he really didn't know what else to do.

Felicity watched him with a blank expression for a moment before sliding her gaze down to his proffered hand. Her expression slowly showed signs of... what he wasn't exactly sure... but something along the lines of confusion as her brow furrowed the longer she stared.

After a moment of Felicity just staring down at his hand, she lifted her gaze up to his chest and started to move forward.

His breath hitched as he watched her, his entire body frozen, hand still suspended mid-air, as he waited to see what she was going to do. He was afraid that if he moved he would scare her off.

Slowly, almost painfully slowly, he felt her arms slide around his torso as she closed in for a hug. Almost immediately, like his body was reacting off instinct, he slid his hand from his pocket and wrapped his arms around her to return the hug.

"Come on. I think we're beyond a handshake." She tried to tease, but it came off a little flat. Maybe it was just the finality of this moment. At least, that's what it was for him.

That's why his own chuckle in response sounded a little off. "That we are." He responded, momentarily squeezing her a little tighter, savoring this moment because it was likely going to be the last time he would hold her in his arms, before they both pulled away from the embrace.

Looking down at her now, it finally hit him. This was all really over. His heart skipped a long beat at that before thumping painfully in his chest, causing him to lose his breath momentarily. "Thank you for everything, Felicity." He managed to breath out, mustering up what little energy he had left to give her a smile of some kind. "You took a chance on me that I didn't deserve, and that will always mean a lot to me. Clearly, my mom knew something we didn't when she decided to set this up."

The little hitch Oliver heard in Felicity's breath nearly tore him apart. "Never doubt Moira Queen." Felicity joked back, her voice wavering only slightly as she said it. "And, you did deserve it. The chance that is. You just needed to believe in yourself... like I did." She added, her voice dropping a decibel as she diverted her gaze to his chest.

Before he could stop himself, he had leaned down and brushed his lips over her smooth cheek, his right hand lifting slightly to brush over the back of her left hand before letting his hand fall again. "Thank you." He said, whispering the words against her skin like a prayer.

He let himself linger for a few more seconds before pulling away and taking a few steps back. If he didn't put more distance between them, he was going to do something stupid that he wouldn't be able to come back from. Then he took a few more awkward steps back towards the door and slid his hands into his pockets. "Keep in touch, Smoak." He said with a small smile before turning and finally forcing himself through her door.

Picking up his box of things, he allowed himself one last glance inside her office. She was still watching him, her face a mixture of emotions to the point that it was unreadable. Giving her one final smile and a nod, he tore his gaze away from her and forced his feet to take him towards the elevator.

That was it.

It was over.

And it was probably for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo not the happiest of chapters. Both are in some serious denial about how the other feels about them. Clearly, they both need an intervention, and their friends are more than happy to help in the next chapter, and I can already promise it's going to be a lot of fun.
> 
> As usual, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and feel free to drop me a line in the comments! I always love hearing from you guys.


	7. Call in the Reinforcements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh!! Hello again! I know it's been a while, and as always thank you for being so patient with me. I've finally finished my first semester of grad school, and while it was so worth it, it definitely kept me way busier than anticipated, hence the slow updates. Also, thank you so much for all the love and support you guys have given me for grad school, it means the world to me!
> 
> I know, I know, that last chapter was a horrible place to leave off, but I'm back and hopefully with a much anticipated and slightly lighter chapter.
> 
> And, of course, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy (belated) Hanukkah everyone!

_Thump._

_Thump-thump-thump._

_Thump-thump._

_Thump-thump-thud..._

"Frack!" Felicity hissed, immediately jerking her hand away from the punching bag and shaking it out. 

"Anddd I think that's a sign that you, missy, need to take a break." Sara's said as she popped out from behind the bag that she had been supporting for Felicity. 

Felicity waved her hand at Sara. "I'll be fine, I just landed a little wonky on that last uppercut, that's all." She panted out as she wiped off some sweat with the back of her hand and moved into her fighting stance again. 

Sara, whom refused to move back behind the bag, gave her a skeptical look, paired with a raised eyebrow and all. How did her friend know her so well? It really scared her sometimes how well Sara could read her. 

The moment Felicity let out a relenting sigh and relaxed out of her stance, Sara circled the bag and practically dragged Felicity over to the nearest bench, an almost giddy smile curling her lips. "Finally. I've been waiting for you to talk to me about whatever's been bothering you for almost two weeks now!" 

"Wait, what do you mean?" Felicity asked slowly, throwing Sara a faux-curious look as she slowly removed her boxing gloves so she could stretch her hands out. The longer she tried to remain oblivious to what Sara was referring to, the more likely it was that Sara might let it go. 

"Oh please. I haven't only noticed the way you're taking out some of your frustrations on the punching bag this morning. You haven't punched like that since we first started. If that isn't a glaring red sign that something's up, I don't know what is. And that's on top of the dour mood you've been in for some time now." 

Felicity shrugged, taking a long drink from her water bottle. "I don't know what you mean." 

Sara eyed her again, clearly not buying it, so she pressed on. "Are you nervous about your new EA starting on Monday?" 

"No. I really think I'm going to like her. She's older and she seems like she's really got her head on straight. I'm not worried at all actually. I think it'll be a seamless transition." Felicity responded easily, and honestly, with a shake of her head. 

There was that look again. Sara had leaned forward a little so she could meet Felicity's eyes. Sara was studying her, looking beyond what she projected on the surface, and that made Felicity fidget in her seat a little. "Orrrr, is it that you're sad your EA won't be Ollie anymore?" Sara prodded with a devilish grin and a wink. 

Felicity tried to resist, she really did, but her instant reaction to the accusation was a dead give-away, especially to someone as observant as Sara. Her back straightened slightly, she shifted a little in her seat again, and her eyes instantly looked elsewhere to avoid Sara's gaze. 

"I'm right, aren't I? You're actually going to miss him?" Sara announced gleefully, the grin on her lips widening ever so slightly. 

Felicity scoffed and forced out a small laugh at the accusation. "No. I mean, it was fun while it lasted – having him as my EA, I mean. Definitely not referring to anything else. He was nice to look at though. Oh god, that sounds way worse that I meant it. I mean, yes, he's handsome, but that's not why I'm going to miss him. We were actually amicable by the end and he really did good work during his time with me. He really has come a long way, and he's really going to make Moira proud over at QC." 

It was painfully obvious that she was scrambling, and that meant Sara knew too. 

With her babble finally over, Felicity nervously looked over at her friend to gauge her reaction. She was not expecting what she saw though. 

She could handle teasing Sara, but serious Sara was a whole other beast. Sara's teasing grin had completely faded now, and her eyes were slightly wide as she looked at Felicity in what could probably be described as shock. 

Sara didn't say anything immediately either, and it was killing Felicity. The tension was rising exponentially the longer Sara remained quiet. But, when she finally did speak, it was a doozy. 

"Oh my god, you're in love with him." 

Felicity's eyes widened slightly before she recovered quickly and barked out a nervous laugh, waving a dismissive hand between them. "That's ridiculous Sara. How could you possibly determine that from what I just told you? I simply said I'm going to miss him, not that I love him. Besides, you can't be in love with someone you only knew as an employee." 

"Bullshit, Felicity. That's a lie and you know it. You two were more than just coworkers, you just said it yourself." Sara countered easily. 

Felicity panicked. "What do you mean? Of course we were only ever coworkers, I don't think I ever indicated otherwise." She retorted quickly. 

"Relax, Felicity. All I meant was that you just said you guys had become friends by the end, that's all." Sara assured, but quirked a curious brow at Felicity. "What did you think I meant?" 

"Nothing!" Felicity blurted out quickly, before turning to Sara with a slightly panicked look in her eye. She was so busted. This had gotten out of had so fast and Felicity couldn't see a way to reign this in anymore. That didn't mean she wasn't going to give it a shot, though. "Yeah, we were sort of friends by the end, but that still doesn't mean I'm in love with him." Felicity forced out, drawing her gaze away from Sara and over to a random person working out across the way as she said the words - words that were the biggest lie ever, no matter how hard she tried to get over her real feelings ever since she came to the realization a few weeks ago. 

Sara was silent for a moment, which would have bothered Felicity but she was too lost in her own thoughts to notice this time. So, when Sara gently laid a hand on her thigh, Felicity jumped noticeably in her seat at the sudden touch before meeting Sara's gaze again. "Felicity, what aren't you telling me? What happened with Ollie? Do I need to kick his ass?" 

Damn, she was good. 

"No!" Felicity blurted out, wide-eyed as she faced Sara for a moment. "He didn't do anything wrong, so no ass-kickings are necessary." Felicity added calmly with a reassuring smile. 

With the way Sara eyed her critically, Felicity knew her avoidance of the other questions, and what that necessarily implied, wasn't missed. 

First, Felicity dropped her eyes to the tape around her hands where she was picking at a loose edge on her right hand, then she glanced back to find Sara's expectant eyes still boring down on her before quickly averting her gaze to elsewhere in the room again. Shifting in her seat, her eyes still looked everywhere but at Sara as a million thoughts ran through her head. 

If she admitted that something had happened with Oliver, then the cat would be out of the bag, and there's no way she could go back. It would be public knowledge – well not public, but not a secret anymore either. She didn't know if she was ready for that step, but she also needed her friend's advice where her feelings were concerned too... 

"Felicity..." Sara pressed again, drawing out the syllables in a low tone, like it was a warning and drawing Felicity out of her thoughts. 

"I may have... I may have fucked him." Felicity rushed out suddenly, but barely loud enough for Sara to hear her over the ambient noises of the gym. 

There it was. She'd said it. 

"What?" Sara breathed out in shock. 

"More than once." Felicity added just as quietly, keeping her gaze on the ground. 

"Excuse me?" Sara said a little louder this time. Felicity didn't have to look at her to know that her eyes had to be wide as saucers by now. 

"Well, a lot of times, actually." 

"Holy shit." Sara breathed out as she information washed over her. 

And then, Sara went eerily quiet. You could practically hear the ticking of the timer as Felicity waited for all of the pieces to fall into place for Sara. 

_Ding!_

" _Felicity Megan Smoak!_ " 

Spinning on Sara quickly with wide eyes, Felicity covered her friend's mouth. "Shhh, please! Be mad at me all you want, but for the love of god don't announce this to the world. No one can know." 

When Felicity felt it was safe to remove her hand, Sara was quiet as promised, only gaping at her a few times as she tried to form a whole thought. "How... why... what... I... I don't even know where to start with you!" Sara whispered harshly, slapping Felicity's arm. 

Glancing around the gym, Felicity could feel the eyes on them, even if that wasn't exactly true. "How about we go back to my townhouse, somewhere more private, and I'll tell you everything, okay?" 

Sara nodded vigorously, clearly eager to hear the whole story. 

With their workout long forgotten, the pair were curled up on Felicity's couch about 30 minutes later after Sara practically dragged Felicity back to her townhouse. Felicity had started from the very beginning, giving all the dirty details (well, most of them... Sara didn't need to know _everything_ ), and finally concluded with the last time she and Oliver spent time together... almost three weeks ago now. 

"And...?" Sara prompted curiously when Felicity finished. 

"And, what?" Felicity asked. She knew what her friend was after, but she was about to be really disappointed, so she decided to play naïve for just a moment. 

"What happened after that snow day?! You can't tell me nothing happened after something like that." 

Felicity pulled her lips together into a small frown as she shook her head. "Nothing did happen after that. I ended things. Well, not in as many words, but clearly Oliver got the hint because he never asked to see me again. I mean, it wasn't meant to last any ways, and he clearly doesn't have feelings for me, so there was no point in continuing when he was about to leave for QC." Felicity thought out loud, hoping she sounded at least somewhat convincing to Sara because it definitely sounded fake to her own ears. 

"GAH!" Sara cried out dramatically, throwing her arms up in the air and flopping back onto the couch. "My friends are idiots, both of them. So smart, and yet somehow so dumb." Sara contemplated out loud. 

"Hey now, just who are you calling dumb?" Felicity retorted, more confused than offended by Sara's accusation. 

"You, dummy!" Sara responded with a laugh as she sat up. "You can't see the most obvious thing in the world, so yes, you're a dummy." 

"Are you going to tell me, or am I going to be a dummy for the rest of my life so you can finally hold it over my head?" Felicity teased, though her laugh was still a little anxious because she couldn't figure out where Sara was going with this. 

"If you insist. First, you my friend, are hopelessly in love with Ollie. But, we already knew that. I called it back at the gym, and you basically confirmed it just now, so that only leaves one other thing." Sara pieced together, pausing for dramatic effect before speaking again. "The real piece of news is that our dear Ollie is hopelessly in love with you too." Sara concluded with a big smile, one that wasn't her usual sly smile but a truly happy smile. 

This time, Felicity actually laughed at that. Not a fake laugh, but a real, loud bark of laughter. "There's no way. No way the renowned playboy, Ollie Queen, could fall in love, let alone with someone like me." Felicity scoffed. 

"Just think about it, will you Felicity? You told me earlier how much he's changed, and I've seen it too. Maybe... maybe this aspect of his life has changed too. I mean, besides you, he hasn't been spotted with anyone in almost a year now. And come on, who wouldn't fall in love with you." Sara pressed. 

There was a long pause from Sara while Felicity mulled over this information. 

"You had to have realized this on some level. So, what I still don't understand is why didn't you do anything about it?" Sara tried again after Felicity still hadn't spoken up. 

"It was... complicated, Sara. I was his boss, and not just any boss but the CEO. What would it have looked like if we started dating? I'm already under enough scrutiny as it is, being a young female who inherited the company a little too early. And, if it came out that I was seeing Oliver, my reputation would be ruined and no one would respect me!" 

"So, you thought being fuck buddies was better?" Sara quipped back with a raised brow. 

"Exactly!" Felicity agreed quickly with a look on her face that said 'thank god you finally get it'. "No-strings-attached was safer, something we could end anytime if things got too risky... oh, you were joking, weren't you?" 

Sara rolled her eyes and fixed Felicity with a look. "Obviously." She said with a laugh. "I can't believe you didn't account for the fact that Ollie was going to charm your socks off, wait no, fuck them off." Sara teased before breaking down in laughter at her clever joke. 

Felicity threw a soft punch at her friend's shoulder. "You think you're so clever. Remind me never to tell you anything about my personal life ever again if you're going to be this unhelpful." 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it." Sara said apologetically as she wiped the faux tears from her eyes. After she calmed down, Sara placed a sincere hand on her forearm, drawing Felicity's skeptical gaze back to her. "Do you want my honest opinion?" 

With an unamused look, Felicity lifted her brows as she waited for this earth-shattering advice. 

"Fuck them. And by them, I mean your board and all the other people whose opinion you seem to value. They shouldn't get to dictate whom you fall in love with. You're the best thing that's happened to Ollie since his sister was born, and it seems like he was the perfect person to draw you out of your shell again after your father died and you became a workaholic. You can't let anyone come in the way of that." 

Felicity was momentarily stunned into silence. "Who knew you were such a romantic." She breathed out. 

Sara gave Felicity's forearm a squeeze as a gentle laugh escaped her lips. "I have my moments." She replied before her gaze softened. "You know I'm right, and you know you need to tell him, Felicity. He deserves to know how you feel about him." 

"But, what if..." 

"Felicity." Sara interrupted. "Yes, this is going to be a risk, but I have feeling it'll be a risk worth taking. At least say you'll consider it?" 

Felicity bit her lip as she held her friend's pleading gaze. She could do that. Considering telling him wasn't that hard. 

* * *

Lifting his glass to his lips, Oliver took a long drag of his whiskey as he stepped up to the railing of Verdant's VIP section. After his satisfying sip, he lowered the glass from his lips and leaned forward to rest his forearms against the cool metal of the railing as his eyes slowly surveyed the dense crowd below. 

He didn't really know why he was here. This wasn't really his scene anymore. The scene below didn't have the appeal it used to have for him. It hadn't for a while now. 

Okay, so he knew exactly why he was here, but it wasn't his usual reason. He wasn't here as the old "Ollie" Queen who was just trying to chase a piece of tail for the evening. And though he was here for a drink, he wasn't here to get black-out drunk like he used to enjoy (though, god knows why). He had ended up at Verdant seeking an escape from things, even if just for a moment, because the moment he entered the door, the overwhelming sound of the thumping bass from the music, the feel of it too as it vibrated through his body, and the chance to step back and just observe for a moment made for the perfect escape from reality at the moment. 

It had been a week since he took up his temporary position of Vice President at QC. 

Don't misunderstand – his first week at QC had been fabulous. The look of absolute pride on his mother's face every day at him taking the time to getting to know the employees in various departments, making calls to their investors and shareholders to officially introduce himself, and the way he so seamlessly jumped right into his tasks as VP meant he must be doing something right. There was just one element missing at QC, and everything he did always seemed to remind him of that fact. 

Several times, after a successful business call, he found himself instinctively turning to his left, searching out the one person he wanted to share that success with, only to quickly remember that it was impossible. Or, when the rhythmic sound of heels clicking against the marble floors would meet his ears, he would instantly perk up, only to be disappointed each time when it was never her. It was so bad that he was pretty sure he was slowly going insane – hence his desire to just get away from it all for a night. 

Lifting his glass to his lips, he took another sip of his whiskey before lowering his arm again so that hand dangled over the edge of the railing as he let his eyes continue their perusal of the crowd. He wasn't really looking for anything... just looking. 

At least, so he thought, until his eyes landed on a head of blonde hair. 

His grip on his whiskey glass loosened ever so slightly in shock, his whole body freezing momentarily at the sight. Luckily, he recovered before the whiskey slipped through his fingers entirely and went careening into the crowd below. 

He was nearly certain it was her. 

He just had to be right. 

Before he could think, he slammed the remainder of his whiskey on a random table behind him before taking off for the lower level, completely ignoring the odd look Tommy was giving his retreating figure from where he still sat at their private table. 

Oliver could care less though because he was a man on a mission. If it was her, it had to be a sign. So, he didn't even blink an eye at the people angrily yelling after him and throwing him their dirtiest looks as he barreled through the mosh pit, making a beeline for the head of blonde hair he had yet to remove his eyes from. 

Pushing through the last layer of the crowd separating them, he reached out and gently curled his fingers around her elbow to get her attention. "Felicity..." He breathed out with a big smile. 

But, when she turned around, Oliver reared back, taking his hand with him like he had been burnt. 

This girl was most certainly not Felicity. He had been a fool to hope that it was her. 

"I'm not Felicity, but, for you handsome, I can be anyone you want." The stranger purred, reaching out to "seductively" tap her fingers over his chest and play with the buttons on his shirt. 

His face contorted in disgust. The thought honestly made him want to hurl. 

Plucking the girl's hand away from his chest, Oliver quickly mumbled his apologies and no thanks before disappearing into the crowd again, making a pit stop at the bar for another two fingers of whiskey before sulking back upstairs to rejoin Tommy at their table. 

"And the speedster returns!" Tommy jovially greeted as Oliver slumped into his seat again. 

"Fuck off." Oliver growled immediately in response as he slammed back his glass of whiskey in one go. 

When he looked back to Tommy, whom had an eyebrow raised curiously at him, he immediately cringed in apology, realizing how much of dick he sounded like just then. He hadn't meant to snap at Tommy, but he wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. 

"So, may I ask what just happened, or am I going to get my dick chopped off this time?" Tommy pressed with a small grin, clearly prodding Oliver. 

"Looks like you get to keep it this time, buddy." Oliver joked back before turning to the waitress to signal for another drink. "I just thought I knew her is all. I had the wrong person." Oliver answered evasively. 

Tommy hummed thoughtfully with a small nod as he slowly let his gaze drift out into the crowd. "Hmm, let's see... blonde hair, fantastic ass, petite... let me guess! You, my friend, were hoping she was one Felicity Smoak, right?!" Tommy concluded gleefully, returning his mischievous and observant gaze back to Oliver. 

Oliver glared back at his best friend, his jaw clenching slightly and his fingers flexing around his whiskey glass. "Why do you know what Felicity's ass looks like?" He practically growled out. 

Leaning back a little in the booth, Tommy threw his hands up in front of himself and paired it with a skeptical look. "Relax man. While I think Ms. Smoak is absolutely ravishing, I would never dare pursue that." 

Though part of Tommy's explanation made Oliver relax a little, another part managed to leave him more puzzled and agitated than before. "And, why not?" He pressed, leaning forward a little now and bringing his elbows to rest on the table. 

This time, Tommy actually chuckled a little. "Because I know I'd never stand a chance." 

Oliver pursed his lips as he observed Tommy for a moment. He didn't know why his best friend was being so cryptic and it was beginning to frustrate him. So, with a huff, Oliver downed the remainder of his latest glass of whiskey before leaning back against the booth to sulk. 

Between getting his hopes up that the very person he was trying to escape had somehow shown up here tonight and his best friend's current behavior, this was not the typed of night he envisioned when he imagined coming here to relax. 

After a moment of silently brooding to himself, he still felt Tommy's curious gaze on him. Turning his eyes back to Tommy, Oliver raised a brow at him. "What?" He asked shortly. 

Slowly, Tommy just started shaking his head. His eyes lit up and a big smile slowly curled his lips. "Jesus, you are in love with her." Tommy breathed out, his words a mixture of shock, amusement, and excitement. 

Oliver's eyes widened momentarily before he quickly composed his features. He opened his mouth to refute his friend's claim, but, in classic Tommy fashion, he just kept right on going. "I knew it! I mean, I wasn't 100% sure, but we all had our bets going – me, Sara, and Thea that is. Between the way you two look at each other when you're in the same room, the chemistry you guys had once you worked through your issues after that first week you worked there, and not to mention the way you guys talk about one another, we all figured something had to be going on between you two." Tommy rambled on excitedly, the smile never leaving his face. 

The tiniest, saddest smile curled Oliver's lips. Apparently, he and Felicity weren't as good at hiding things as they thought. At least their friends didn't seem to know what really happened between them. "You have no idea." Oliver mumbled, the words slipping from his lips before he could stop himself while his mind was temporarily living in the past. 

Tommy's earlier excitement was quickly replaced by curious surprise. "Oh? Do tell Ollie. What have you and Miss Felicity been up to?" 

Something akin to protectiveness suddenly bloomed rapidly in Oliver's chest as his face became a hard mask. He'd already said too much. What happened between he and Felicity was none of Tommy's business. It wasn't like one of his usual hook-ups that he used to boast about to Tommy. It had been about so much more than that for him. 

With a long look at Tommy, his eyes telling him to drop it, Oliver stood abruptly from the table. "Forget I said anything. What's done is done. There's nothing to talk about." He advised curtly, his gaze aimlessly roaming around the club now, looking everywhere but at Tommy. "I'm going to go wander around." He managed to throw over his shoulder quickly before stalking off. 

This is exactly what he wanted to avoid by coming here. How quickly that plan changed though thanks to his best friend's insatiable albeit well-meaning curiosity. Thankfully he still had one place here he could go to be alone for a moment. 

"For what it's worth, go after her Ollie! Amazing women like her only come around once in a lifetime!" Tommy called out loudly after him. 

His steps faltered, just long enough for him to pause and look back to his friend through the people milling about them. A small but genuine smile curled his lips. "I know." He called back over the music before turning back around and heading for the main floor. 

After another quick stop behind the bar for a few bottles of water, Oliver disappeared into the crowd, heading for a dark hallway off to one side of the bar where the only light was the soft glow of a keypad. 

Punching the code in quickly, he quietly slipped into the doorway, the door firmly shutting once again behind him as he descended the stairs. Once at the bottom, he flicked on the lights to reveal his sparse but adequate set-up, the sight of which always seemed to bring a smile to his lips. 

It was nothing more than some gym equipment and a small lounge area off to the side, but it was his space - one he had installed when he and Tommy were first renovating the steel factory. He had been young and was still living at the mansion at the time, so this little oasis became a place where he could get away from the pressure of his family on occasion. It had served him well over the years, and it never bothered Tommy, so long as he wasn't doing anything illegal down here. 

He didn't use it as often anymore, but right now, he definitely felt up for a distraction in the form of a little workout. So, he dug out some workout clothes he always kept stashed away here, changed, and got to work, starting with his favorite: the salmon ladder... 

He pushed his body to the limit for a grueling 45 minutes, but the minute he plopped down on his couch to relax afterwards it was like nothing had changed. When the distraction was over, his mind was right back on Felicity. Apparently, thinking he had seen Felicity tonight really done a number on him. 

Pulling his phone out of the pocket of his discarded slacks, Oliver checked a few of his work emails and noted the reminder about his family brunch tomorrow. As he was about to put his phone away, something made his thumb hesitate over his contacts. Staring down at his screen, his eyebrows folded together, and his thumb wavered a moment before clicking on the icon. 

It took him an almost embarrassingly short amount of time to find what he was looking for. Opening up her contact information, his thumb hesitated again, this time hovering over the call button, and his eyes lingered on the picture he had saved for her. 

With a deep breath, he tapped the button and watched as it changed to dialing. Slowly, he lifted it to his ear and held his breath as dial tone after dial tone went by. He didn't think she would answer him anyways, so what harm was there in... 

" _Oliver?_ " 

He froze for a moment as her voice hit his ear. She really answered. 

"Yeah, hi! Hi. Wait I already said that. Um, yeah, I uh didn't really think you were going to answer. But, I'm glad you did." He breathed out eventually, cringing when he finally managed to stop himself. He sounded like such an idiot. 

" _Are you... are you drunk? Usually I'm the one who rambles._ " She joked back at him, albeit a little stiffly. 

He let out his own breathy, nervous laugh as he cracked open one of the water bottles he'd brought down with himself and took a sip from it, needing something to wet his suddenly dry mouth. "Ha ha, very funny. I am in fact sober." 

There's an awkward pause from both of them after that, and Oliver instantly regretted calling her. He never expected her to answer, so he had no idea what he was supposed to say to her. "I'm so sorry, it's late, and I shouldn't have..." 

" _How are you?_ " She cut in unexpectedly, and the rest of his apology instantly dies on his lips. 

A breath, that he didn't know he had been holding, left his parted lips in a long woosh, then his lips slowly curled into his first real smile in a few days. "I'm, uh, I'm good. How have you been?" He said softly, the nervous edge finally fading from his voice. 

" _Busy. You think the end of the year would be the lightest period of work, but for some reason it's always the worst._ " She laughed. 

A laugh of his own rumbled in his chest. "Yeah, they forget to tell you that in business school." 

" _And you also forget neither of us went to business school. Maybe they do warn you, but we have no way of knowing._ " 

His face split into a big grin as he laughed again. "You're right, as always. I bet they covered making the perfect cup of coffee for your boss too. That would have been helpful in the beginning." 

It was Felicity's turn to laugh this time, and he savored how relaxed she sounded. " _So, how's it going over at QC?_ " She asked after her laughter died down. 

With a soft sigh, Oliver lifted his free hand and brushed it through his hair. "It's good, really good, actually. I..." _I miss you... it's not the same_. That's what he wanted to say, at least. He wanted to say so many things, but every word he thought of died on the tip of his tongue. "I'm happy there." His eyes clenched shut at the words his brain finally decided on passed through his lips. 

There was a long silence on Felicity's end after that. Just the sound of white noise met his ears. His heartbeat quickened. He didn't know why he was nervous, he hadn't actually said anything risky, but he couldn't deny that the tone of the conversation had shifted. 

" _I'm really glad. You never realized what you were capable of, but I knew you would do well running QC one day. And now look at you..._ " She finally said quietly, so quietly he had to strain to hear her over the various ambient noises around him. 

"I know. Thank you." He replied just as softly, his tone dropping an octave. 

There was another long pause this time. 

Oliver's heart thudded loudly in his ears as the pause stretched longer and longer. This was his chance. He just had to say three little words. 

"Felicity, I..." 

" _It's, uh, getting late, Oliver. It was really good to hear from you, though._ " 

His heart stuttered painfully and his shoulders drooped as he sagged into the couch. The dismissal was clear. "Oh, right. Again, I'm sorry I called so late, but I really did enjoy talking with you too. We should do this again sometimes - it was nice." 

" _Yeah, it was._ " She agreed softly, pausing briefly before continuing. " _Night, Oliver._ " 

Her lack of response to his hopeful suggestion didn't escape his notice. Nor did the way his stomach felt suddenly hollow. 

"Night, Felicity. Sleep well." He echoed, but he couldn't bring himself to pull the phone away just yet and end the call. It took a moment, during which he just held the phone to his ear, hoping for something... anything to happen, but eventually he heard the noise that signaled the end of the call. 

Slowly, the hand holding his phone dropped away from his face and into his lap. He stared blankly at the device, which had Felicity's contact still open, the image almost taunting him. 

There was no reason why he wasn't honest with her, why he didn't just tell her he missed her, why he didn't even fight to tell her how he felt. He tried to convince himself that it was because doing it over the phone wasn't the best, but he knew better. 

He was a coward, and a coward doesn't deserve Felicity Smoak. 

* * *

"Oliver, your mother and I just wanted to tell you how proud we are of all the amazing work you've been doing at QC in just your first week." Walter complimented with a sincere smile before taking another bite of his eggs. 

Oliver glanced over to his mom to see her wearing a matching smile of pride. "Thank you. It's really nothing though, Felicity is the one who whipped me into shape." He said with a small smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. 

"On the contrary, my dear boy. While choosing to place you in Ms. Smoak's care proved to be a worthy gamble, it was your own drive that got you to where you are today. You really have come a long way and grown into a fine young man, don't sell yourself short." Walter elaborated, sharing a brief glance and smile with Moira this time. 

"Speaking of," his Mom spoke up this time with a pointed look in his direction, "have you put any thought as to whom your date will be for our annual Christmas party this year?" 

His eyes shot up to his Mom's and he held her gaze with a curious one of his own. Several things confused him about the sudden change of topic, but mainly it's that it didn't seem so sudden to his mother. "I didn't know I _had_ to have a date." He responded simply, deciding to play along. 

"It's not explicitly required, but now that you have a certain status within the company, it would look bad if you showed up alone to your own party. Surely you must have someone in mind dear?" Moira pressed again. 

When he was younger, this sort of conversation would have come across as threatening. This time, it was simply curiosity, as there was something about the searching look in her eyes that made him wonder what she was trying to hint at instead. 

Truth be told, he only had one person in mind that he wanted on his arm. As of last night, though, it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon, if ever. "No, there's no one I have in mind, and I don't really want anyone to accompany me anyways. I think it would actually be a good look for me if I did show up alone rather than have some random girl on my arm, given my prior history." He reasoned. Hopefully that would convince his mom to let it go. 

"Oliver does have a point, dear." Walter jumped in softly in his smooth Australian accent, placing a gentle hand on Moira's. "It would show everyone that he's focused on his new role at QC." 

Luckily, Moira only studied him for a moment longer, one of her perfectly arched eyebrows raised at him, before turning her attention to his sister now. Oliver met Walter's gaze and his lips quirked into a brief, grateful smile. "And Thea, is that boy of yours coming?" 

Thea had also been watching him carefully, but the sound of her name drew her gaze over to their mom. It was Thea's turn to defiantly stare her down. "If you mean Roy, my very serious boyfriend, then yes, he promised me he would be there." 

Oliver's gaze swung between his Mom and his sister a few times as he and Walter watched their silent stare-down unfold. Sharing a glance with Walter, Oliver quirked his eyebrow, and Walter imperceptibly shook his head. 

"Oliver, how is Ms. Smoak?" His Mom asked out of the blue, swiveling her gaze back to him again from his sister. And, if it weren't true before, now all of their eyes were on him, though each pair seemed to loon on with different interests in his answer. 

"Do tell, Ollie! Please tell me you guys still keep in touch." Thea piped up from his right, clearly more than happy to have the attention away from her and back on her brother again. "Oh! Is she coming to the Christmas party?" Thea asked eagerly, turning her gaze to their mom this time. 

"Felicity's Jewish, actually." Oliver mumbled under his breath as he pushed around some of the food on his plate, suddenly wishing he were anywhere but here. He didn't know what possessed his family to give him the third degree this morning. First Tommy, now this... 

Both Thea and their mom stared at him curiously before Moira spoke up again. "Of course, Ms. Smoak will be receiving an invite, Thea. Though, I'll have to change the title to a Holiday party, before those invites get sent out..." She pondered briefly before returning her attention to Oliver. "So, have you spoken to her dear?" 

Oliver inhaled slowly, his fingers tightening around his fork ever so slightly. He had spoken to her, last night to be exact, but he wasn't exactly going to tell them that. "Not really. Maybe once or twice briefly. I'm busy with QC, and she's just as busy with Smoak Tech." He offered with a small one-shoulder shrug. 

Moira hummed softly. "That's a shame. It really seemed like you and Ms. Smoak had become quite close." She lamented, or at least as much as Moira Queen could lament. 

And that was what finally drew his gaze up from his plate. He locked eyes with his mom and pinched his brows together slightly as he studied her. Clearly, she was trying to find the right button to press, but what the end goal was he had no idea. 

As the silence became uncomfortable, Walter cleared his throat, effectively drawing everyone's attention to him. "Thea, how's your boutique doing?" 

Bless Walter and his impeccable social skills. Who knew he would be one of the few people to effectively handle all of the Queens. 

At that change in subject, the topic of Felicity and his love life stayed off the table for the remainder of their brunch which made for a much more pleasant second half of the meal for Oliver. 

Though, that didn't mean he wasn't still eager to escape to his old bedroom immediately after brunch was over. Sure, it made him feel like a bit like a petulant child, but he knew that if he didn't, then his mother would surely be right on his heels. 

The moment he walked into his room, Oliver began nearly pacing a hole into the carpet in front of the large bay window on the right side of his room. 

He had not been expecting the third degree from his own mother today. And her insistence on continually bringing up... 

A soft knock interrupted his thoughts and his pacing. Lifting his gaze to the door, it cracked open to reveal his sister. 

"Mind if I join you?" Thea asked with a smile as she stepped into the room and made her way over to him. 

Clearly, she wasn't expecting a no, but it's not like he'd ever been able to resist her anyways. "Do I have a choice?" He joked, lifting his right arm for her. 

With a knowing smile, Thea accepted his offer, sliding under his arm and wrapping her left around his waist as his arm looped around her shoulders. 

For just a brief moment, the pair held on to one another and were content to watch the light snow falling outside his window. Things hadn't been quiet for them for some time, so these rare moments were all the more precious. 

Eventually, though, they both knew the moment had passed when Thea's shoulders rose and fell with her deep inhale. 

"Ollie, what's going on?" Thea asked softly from his side. 

His eyebrows pinched together slightly. Twisting his head, he peered down at his sister who was looking up at him just as curiously. "What do you mean, Speedy?" 

Scrunching up her nose, Thea's face twisted into a small grimace. "I really wish you would stop calling me that." She grumbled. "But seriously, I mean what's going on with you and Felicity? You always get this weird look on your face every time someone mentions her. And you've been so unbearable to be around for the last three weeks, pretty much ever since you left Smoak Tech. The last time you brooded this much was when you got dumped by that senior cheerleader when you were a freshman in high school." She punctuated with a small laugh and a tiny jab into his side. 

Ignoring Thea's first question entirely, Oliver managed his own, though slightly mechanical, chuckle at the memory. That was a very different time in his life. Back then, it had been all about his reputation. Now... now it was about the rest of his life. "Have I really been that bad? You've seen me, what, a handful of times in the last three weeks?" 

Thea glanced at him from the side of her eyes. "That's my point exactly." She deadpanned, though the slightest smile tugged at her lips, one which Oliver mimicked. 

"I'm sorry, I guess the transition has been harder on me than it seems." He explained, though it was clearly the easy answer and not the real one. 

Thea was silent beside him for a while as they held each other. Then, she squeezed her arm around him, drawing his gaze back down to her. "I think she feels the same way, Ollie." She said cryptically without ever letting her gaze leave the snowy scene outside. 

He stiffened at her words before quickly leaning away from their embrace to get a better look at his sister. She can't have meant what he thought... 

"Don't give me that look, dummy, of course I'm talking about you and Felicity." She clarified, meeting his perplexed, shocked look with a very serious one of her own. 

Releasing his sister, Oliver scrubbed a hand over his tired face as he plopped down in the plush window seat. Carding his fingers through his slightly longer hair than usual, he finally glanced back up to his sister. "Have I really been that obvious?" He asked. Then, a laugh actually rumbled up from his chest. "Wait, no, don't answer that. Clearly, I have. First, Tommy at Verdant last night, now you. And then, Mom clearly suspects something too, if today's brunch was any indication." 

In a few graceful steps, Thea moved over to his bed and sat down directly across from him. Leaning back onto her hands, she crossed her legs and peered at him with those damn perceptive eyes of hers. "Tommy and I talk, of course, but Mom has her own opinions. She asks me about you two periodically though, ever since that gala QC hosted a couple of months ago, actually." Thea supplied with a shrug. 

Oliver's brows pinched together as he recalled the night of the gala. It was a hard night to forget. Something had certainly shifted between them when Felicity decided to come to him that night, something that lead up to that last night they spent together too. But, the gala itself had been mostly un-memorable. He did recall seeing his mom and Felicity talking at some point that evening, but he never actually found out what was said during the exchange. How his mom seemed to get the idea of them together in her head that night, he has no idea. 

"What did Tommy say to you last night?" 

Oliver gave a half-shrug. "The short of it was that he told me to go after her." 

"You should. I don't know why you haven't already, honestly, because I think you both feel the same way about the other." 

"That's the problem, Speedy. I don't know why you keep saying that, because I really don't think that's the case." 

"And, how can you be so certain that _you're_ right?" 

"If she felt the same way I do, then she wouldn't have..." He cut himself off quickly, pressing his lips together into a thin line. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, he spoke up again. "It's... complicated, Thea." 

Thea regarded him with a raised brow. "I don't need to know all the details, but I think you've gotten it all wrong. I've seen you guys together... She loves you, Ollie. I don't know why that's so difficult to comprehend!" 

"Speedy, please...don't..." 

"Don't 'Speedy' me. I can't believe you right now. Since when have you ever been the kind of guy that doesn't even put up a fight?" 

Oliver dipped his head, unable to meet his sister's fiery eyes. She was right – he'd figured out this much on his own last night after that disastrous phone call with Felicity. 

Thea pressed on when he didn't speak up right away. "Are you even going to tell her how you feel?" 

Now, he can't help but cringe, his whole body flinching in on itself at her entirely correct observation. 

When he finally chanced a look at his sister again, she's fuming now. 

Closing her eyes, Thea inhaled and exhaled slowly. At the end of her exhale, the gaze that met his again was calm, but still firm. They stayed like that for a moment, just staring at each other – Thea showing him she meant business, and Oliver searching for... something. 

With a soft shake of her head, Thea lifted herself from the bed and moved over to his door, but turned around right as she reached it to level him with one last look. "I never thought I'd say these words - and if you tell him, you're dead - but Tommy's right. Go after her. Talk to her. You can't just let whatever this might be just fade away because you were too afraid. She deserves to know, and you deserve an answer too, no matter what that answer may be." 

Spinning on her heel, Thea pulled his door open. "I really think you'll be surprised by her answer too." She predicted with a grin over her shoulder at him, then gently pulled his door closed behind her. 

Scrubbing a hand over his face again and tugging frustratingly at his hair, Oliver rose from his seat to pace in front of the window, his anxious steps a reflection of his anxious thoughts. 

The pacing came to a halt suddenly, his eyes staring at a spot in the room in front of him, though unseeing, as Tommy and his sister's words finally sunk in. 

Was it possible that Felicity really felt the same way about him? 

That one little question, one he had never allowed himself to consider before, seemed to spark something in him. 

Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting so close guys! Big things are definitely coming soon;)
> 
> As always, I love to hear your thoughts, so don't be shy and drop me a line below!


	8. Missing You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!!! Surprise! It's finally a another update coming across your dash! I won't say too much other than it's about damn time, and I really hope it was worth this wait because it's a good one ;)
> 
> Happy Reading!

The annual Queen Family Holiday party was going very smoothly, but to Oliver it felt a little flat. The guests really seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the conversations going on around the room seemed jovial and spirited as expected. He knew his mom would be happy as the party was likely going to be labeled another success. But there was just one thing – a person – missing, and that made it difficult for Oliver to really get into the mood of the evening. But, he still had to play the ever-faithful son and future CEO role, so here he was, going through the motions of "talking shop" with the many attendees and trying to convince everyone he could handle his future responsibilities. 

At the moment, it was Mr. Johnson who was eagerly chatting his ear off, but Oliver couldn't recall a word he said. Instead, his attention was elsewhere as he shifted anxiously on his feet, left hand fidgeting with the cufflink on his right wrist, and his eyes sweeping back and forth over the room, leaving no corner unseen. He did manage to give an occasional hum of acknowledgement – he couldn't seem completely uninterested as Mr. Johnson was a notable Queen Consolidated investor. 

Eventually, his gaze stopped and his heart quickened. "I'm so sorry Mr. Johnson, I need to go say hi to a special guest. But, maybe we can continue this later?" Oliver interrupted, briefly flicking his eyes back to his current company as he gave what he hoped was a genuinely apologetic smile. 

Mr. Johnson stopped mid-sentence and plastered on a smile of his own. "Of course, my boy. It was good talking to you and Merry Christmas." The older man responded, patting Oliver's back sincerely. 

With one last smile and nod, Oliver's eye drifted back to where they had stopped earlier, making sure they hadn't left. "And to you too, Mr. Johnson." Oliver responded absently before disappearing into the crowd, ducking and weaving through it with a smile on his face as he grudgingly greeted a few guests on his way. 

Crossing the room, Oliver slipped up behind the guest of interest and placed a gentle hand on their shoulder. Despite that, they still jumped slightly at the touch. "I'm so sorry everyone, but I'd like to steal my good friend Mr. Holt away for a moment to catch up and what not. I promise to bring him back shortly to continue talking about his latest and greatest inventions." Oliver said through a bright but pasted-on smile. 

Curtis looked strangely at Oliver on his left before turning a smile on the crowd around him. "They do say the holidays makes everyone sentimental. I guess Oliver's already feeling sentimental about his time at Smoak Tech." Curtis responded with a mildly forced chuckle, clearly still confused at Oliver's behavior. 

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "He's not wrong. Now, if you'll excuse us. I'll have him back in just a moment." Oliver dismissed before gently leading Curtis a few feet away. 

When they finally stopped in a quieter corner of the room, and Oliver turned around, pinning Curtis with his hopeful gaze. Recognition flashed in Curtis' own eyes. "She's not here." Curtis said lowly, a hint of pity in his voice. 

"Okay..." Oliver started slowly, his brows slowly crinkling into a confused frown. "Is she just coming late or...?" 

Curtis shook his head, his lips pulling a sideways frown. "She asked me to come in her place tonight." He clarified gently. "I'm really sorry. She did ask me to tell you and your family hi for her though." 

"Is she okay?" Oliver asked, a hint of panic causing the words to rush out from his lips. 

Curtis placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "I'm sure she's okay, Oliver. Things have just been crazy with the transition and getting the final year-end numbers out that I think she just needed the night off." 

Oliver's lips pinched together as his eyes drifted off to stare at something in the distance. "I see." He mumbled. He shook his head shortly at the thoughts that had momentarily invaded his mind, doing his best to expel them. "Well, thank you for coming Curtis. It really is good to see you again, and please tell Paul hi for me. Enjoy the rest of your night." Oliver smiled softly at his friend, reaching out to shake hands. 

"Oh boy, Paul's going to be thrilled." Curtis joked with a laugh. It was no secret that Paul had a massive crush on Oliver. "Thanks Oliver, and the party really is lovely so far. Sorry Felicity couldn't make it, but I'll tell her you were looking for her." 

With one last slap on the back, Oliver nodded at Curtis with a smile. "Of course. I'll see you around Curtis." He said before making his way back into the sea of fake smiles and meaningless chatter, the smile immediately dropping from his face as soon as he turned around. 

Oliver wanted nothing more than to get out of here now. He hoped Felicity would be here tonight, almost banking on it actually, since this was a big corporate schmooze-fest. He was dying to talk to her ever since his mini-intervention a week and a half ago, but he could never find a way to get in touch with her that didn't seem creepy or a dead give-away of his intentions and potentially send her running for the hills. So, this was supposed to be his chance. Felicity would show up, they'd do their thing for a while, then he'd take her somewhere quiet and finally tell her how he felt. 

Needless to say, this night was not going like he'd planned. And, since it was only 9:30 pm, it was still too early for him to disappear from his own party, and he still had several more key guests to speak too about upcoming funding renewals in the new year. 

"Happy Holidays to me." He whispered sadly under his breath before plastering on a fake smile and dutifully going back to business.

* * *

With focused eyes, Oliver took a deep breath, blew it out into the mild but still slightly chilly night air, and strode with a purpose up the concrete sidewalk, taking the short set of steps two at a time and quickly closing the gap between him and his destination, coming to a stop in front of an immaculate, white wooden door. 

His hand was poised to knock when he finally realized what he was doing and froze. Dropping his hand, he slipped his phone out of his pocket, clicked the screen on, and frowned sadly. 

12:30 am. 

It was a Friday night, but she was most likely asleep. 

He was such an idiot for trying to come here and do this so late at night. But, in his defense, he hadn't been able to leave the party until 45 minutes ago since he had been under his mother's watchful eye all night, making sure he did his part. Not only that, Oliver had been so one-track in his goal once the party was over that he was still wearing his tuxedo. Granted the bowtie was laying in the passenger seat of his car, his jacket was hanging open, and he had undone the cufflinks and top buttons of his shirt, but he was so determined to see Felicity that he hadn't even had the forethought to take even ten minutes to change. 

So, here he was, looking like an over-dressed, love-sick idiot about to wake someone up in the middle of the night. 

With a groan of frustration, Oliver spun around and forced himself to walk away from her door. He only made it as far as her stairs a few feet away though before he gently lowered himself onto the cool concrete. Even though he knew coming here was pointless, he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. Leaving meant giving up. 

Scrubbing his hands over his face, he slid them back into his once neatly styled hair, tugging at the short hairs in frustration. "Why did I even come here? What did I think would happen?" He mumbled to himself under his breath, his head drooping down between his propped-up knees. 

After seeing Curtis earlier, his mind had been on a non-stop loop trying to figure out why Felicity didn't show up. First, he tried to tell himself that Curtis was right, maybe she just didn't feel like it with all the stress she's no doubt been under lately. But then, he convinced himself that he had been the real reason. She just didn't want to see him. Thea and Tommy had been wrong. There was nothing between them anymore and his feelings weren't returned. 

Despite that... he had to know. He needed to tell her. So, the minute he was free, he jumped into his Audi, and that's how he ended up here at 12:30 am, about to wake her up only to probably be turned down. 

With a groan, he pushed himself up from the stairs, only to start pacing back and forth out of frustration. He didn't know what to do, but he just couldn't sit there any longer, so right now pacing was the only thing that might help him think. 

It lasted for another ten minutes, the constant back and forth – both of his feet and his mind – before he sat himself down on her stairs again, still just as lost as when he first started pacing. He let out a long, frustrated groan and slid a hand into his hair again. Why was this so difficult? 

"Thank god. I thought you'd never stop." 

His head snapped up instantly. Then, he was scrambling onto his feet at the base of the steps so he could turn around to face her. 

His heart thumped loudly in his chest. She was in her open doorway, wearing her panda pajama pants and oversized MIT sweatshirt with her hair down and looking a little rumpled, like she had indeed been roused from bed, and kind of squinting at him because she came down without her glasses. 

She had never looked more beautiful. 

"What?" He managed to force out after his inspection of her. It didn't escape his notice though, despite her squinting, that she was also getting a good look at him, and his eyes instantly narrowed in on the way her bottom lip neatly folded between her teeth for a moment. 

"The pacing." She clarified slowly. "I've been watching you on my security monitor for the last ten minutes. You were really starting to stress me out." She tried to joke with a light laugh, though it sounded strained to his ears. 

Oliver ducked his head. "Sorry for waking you. I didn't realize about the security monitor." He said softly, now avoiding her eyes. This is exactly what he had been trying to avoid. 

Her pause was short, but still long enough to seem out of place, and it had Oliver shuffling on his feet as it dragged on. "Don't be." She finally responded, drawing his slightly surprised gaze back up to hers with that response. He was relieved that she didn't look mad. 

Now she shuffled a little, that little crinkle he knew oh-so-well appearing between her brows, before turning her body to open up some of the doorway to him. "Do you want to come in? It's a little chilly and you seem, ah, underdressed." 

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it closed again. Eventually, he shook his head. "It's probably best if I don't." 

Felicity pinched her lips together now, her eyes dropping to the ground as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Why are you here then?" She asked cautiously, her even tone making his heart clench. 

He licked his lips, his eyes darting around before settling on her again. "You didn't come tonight." He offered weakly, his heart starting to pound in his chest. He knew this was his chance, he had to tell her, but his nerves were winning at the moment. 

"I know." Felicity responded, turning her head away as what he thought might be shame briefly filled her gaze. "But, that doesn't explain why you're here. I'm sure lots of people couldn't make it." She added, her blank eyes rising to meet his again. 

Oliver took a deep breath and lifted one foot onto the next step, hoisting himself a little closer to her. "To me, you're not just anybody. And you know it." He answered softly, his tone and eyes trying to reflect the emotions he struggled to verbalize at the moment. 

When he stepped closer, the movement was slight, but Felicity definitely leaned back a little, her arms around her body tightening protectively. "Don't do this. Don't lie to me, Oliver." 

"Felicity, please." He begged, taking two long strides forward to close a little more of the distance, but still gave her space. "I'm not lying. I was going to do this earlier, at the party, but then you didn't show up. That's the truth. That's why I showed up on your doorstep tonight. I know I'm terrible at this, but that doesn't make my feelings any less real." 

He stopped to take a deep breath to calm himself. Slowly, so she knew what he was doing, he lifted his hand, brushing his fingers over the smooth skin of her cheek, he gently captured a wayward lock of hair and tucked it behind her ear. The touch immediately brought her eyes up to his, and he finally looked at her with all of his walls down, all of his heart on display. 

A soft gasp met his ears. 

"I love you, Felicity. I'm sorry if this ruins what little friendship we still have, but you deserved to know. Even if you don't feel the same way, at least now I'll never wonder what might have been." He breathed out, never letting his eyes stray from hers. "I know things were messy, and it was never supposed to be about emotions, but I was naïve to think that I wouldn't fall in love with you. I'm so in love with you, Fel-" 

He never got the rest of his words out. 

The moment Felicity's lips pressed gently against his, his eyes slammed shut and his whole body froze. He didn't dare move, or breathe, or reciprocate. 

And, just as he thought, Felicity pulled away a moment later. His whole face twisted in pain, and his hands clenched into tight fists at his side. 

But then, her fingers ghosted over his chin and her nails lightly scratched his stubble along the same path, which was enough to make him shiver. "Oliver..." She breathed against his lips, brushing her nose against his in a tender gesture. 

Though his eyes felt heavy, he forced them open ever so slightly. Though those captivating blue eyes of hers trembled a little, no doubt due to his reaction just now, he knew, without a doubt, the emotions reflecting back at him because it was like she was looking into his soul at that moment. 

So, this time, he hastily closed the distance, wrapping both of his lips around her lower one. Her lips immediately parted, letting him melt into the kiss... and her. The moment Felicity responded, Oliver's whole body relaxed, his hands curved around her waist to pull her close, and a long groan of satisfaction rumbled through his chest. 

Felicity's hands slid under his tuxedo jacket, leaving fire in their wake as she smoothed them over his stomach. When her fingers found his suspenders, she wasted no time in curling them into her grip, pulling herself a little closer to him as their lips moved together effortlessly. 

Breaking the kiss briefly, Oliver took a moment to press a few hot, open-mouthed kisses on her neck. 

Felicity's hands curled a little tighter around his suspenders. "We should go inside." She gasped out softly as she slowly rolled her neck to the side, giving Oliver better access. 

"Mmhmm." Oliver hummed in agreement, nuzzling his nose just under her ear, accompanied by a soft kiss there, before pulling back to press his lips to hers again, which Felicity met eagerly with her own parted lips. 

They kissed for a few more minutes, Felicity nipping Oliver's lower lip, and their tongues meeting in the middle, but neither made a move to go inside just yet. Finally, Felicity forced her feet backwards through her open door and into the threshold of her townhouse, pulling him along with her by his suspenders. Though Oliver stumbled a little awkwardly after her at the sudden movement, they never broke their contact as they continued to meet each other kiss for kiss. 

The moment they were inside, Oliver swiftly kicked the door shut with the heel of his foot and guided them over to the wall of her entryway, gently pressing her up against it. When Felicity's back gently hit the wall, Oliver stepped between her legs and rolled his hips into hers, letting her feel how hard he already was for her. 

His lips stifled her moan as she pressed back against him and wrapped one of her legs around his, pressing it firmly into the back of his thigh. Her fingers tightened briefly around his suspenders before one of them loosened its grip and slid further up his chest. Gently, she pressed on Oliver's shoulder, and he leaned back as requested, but not putting more than a breath's distance between them. 

Forcing his eyes open, his brow furrowed only slightly as he gazed down at her own blissed out eyes that were barely cracked open. "What is it?" He asked softly, his fingers gently brushing over her cheek. 

Licking her lips, Felicity dropped her gaze to his chest. "Too many clothes. We need to amend that." She practically purred, both of her hands now sliding over his chest and around to his shoulders, gently sliding the coat of his tuxedo off his shoulders. Oliver's burning gaze never left her as he helped her shimmy it off, slinging it to the other side of the small entryway. 

Felicity bit her lip, a low, satisfied hum buzzing in her throat as she pressed her palms against his broad chest and fanned out her fingers. Sliding her hands down the hard planes of his body, she eventually slid her hands around his waist, trying to pull him closer again. "Mmm, much better." She hummed. 

Then, her hooded eyes dropped to his lips and a smirk danced across her own. Pressing forward, she placed a lingering kiss on his lips, pausing to gently nip and tug on his lower lip when she finally goes to break it. "Have I mentioned I'm a sucker for suspenders?" She purred, giving one of them a gentle tug with her index finger. 

A sly grin curled his lips as he leaned back just enough to look down at her through his own heavy eyelids. "I'll keep it in mind for the future." He promised. 

For a moment, Felicity's eyes brightened, and her small smile turned into a large grin. His own lips instantly mimicked hers. Holding her gaze, he brushed his fingers over her cheek and down her arm as his lips curled into a dopey smile. 

He loved being able to use that word: future. 

When his fingers ghosted over the back of her hand, Felicity turned her palm, slowly slipping her fingers through into his. With a sly grin, Felicity pushed them away from the wall and moved them towards the stairs immediately to her right. 

Oliver dutifully followed right behind her, never letting her get more than a step ahead of him. As they moved down the hallway towards her room, Oliver tightened his fingers around Felicity's, his thumb gently brushing over the skin on the back of her hand. 

Glancing over her shoulder, Felicity's eyes met his content gaze briefly. A wide smile curled her lips and her fingers squeezed his back before she turned her gaze forward again and led them across the threshold of her room, flicking on the lights as they entered. 

Oliver's tongue peeked out to wet his lips, his hungry gaze eating up the sight before him as Felicity spun around to face him again. Not wasting a moment, Oliver stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling them flush together again. At the same time, Felicity wrapped one arm around his neck and gripped his shirt with the other as she rose onto her toes and met his descending lips in a soft kiss. 

Before they could build up steam again, Oliver pulled away and pressed a few slow, lingering kisses along her jaw and the column of her neck. "I hope you know... I didn't say what I did because I miss this." He murmured softly against her neck as he tenderly brushed his nose over the path he had kissed moments earlier. "I want all of this... all of you." He assured softly, lifting his eyes to meet hers. 

Sliding her hand up his chest, Felicity found his jaw and pressed her palm into his scruff, holding his gaze. "I know." She confirmed with a small smile, stroking his scruff with the pads of her fingers lovingly. 

Despite her assurances, Oliver moved to open his mouth and say something more. As soon as his lips parted even an inch, Felicity shook her head at him and pressed her lips to his again in a gentle kiss. "Later." She promised softly against his lips, pressing her hips into his, telling him what she really needed right now. 

Sharply inhaling, Oliver quickly got the hint, and his hands slid around to take hold of her waist again, his fingers pressing into the soft skin there as he gently ground his hips into hers. "Later." Oliver agreed softly. 

Then, he erased the small gap between them, his lips closing around hers hungrily, his teeth gently scraping over her bottom lip. Felicity reciprocated with just as much enthusiasm now, fighting against his lips with as much passion and hunger as she could muster. 

Raking her hands down his chest, sliding his suspenders off his shoulders on the way down, Felicity hastily tugged his shirt out of his pants when she reached her destination. As soon as it was free, she slipped her hands under the hem of his shirt, pressing her palms flat against the warm flesh of his lower abs. A grin quirked her lips briefly during their kiss when his muscles flexed under her appreciative touch. 

Sharing a few more open-mouthed kisses with him, letting her tongue lazily dance with his, until Felicity pulled back again as she slipped her hands out from his shirt to grip the hem instead. For a moment, Oliver's lips try to chase after hers. When he meets air, a small growl of frustration rumbles past his lips. But, with a tug on his shirt, his eyes slide open to reveal his wide pupils that no longer held their characteristic bright blue color. 

Holding her gaze, Felicity goes to work on the buttons of his shirt. After fumbling with the first few buttons, though, she dropped her gaze down to her hands to speed up the process. But, Oliver never moved his eyes from her, watching as that little tell-tale crinkle of frustration slowly creased her forehead. The minute Felicity undid the last button, her hands were sweeping over his shoulders again, sliding the shirt off his body. Reluctantly, Oliver dropped his arms to his sides, allowing his shirt to effortlessly slide off of him and onto the floor. Almost in the same breath, Felicity pulled his white undershirt over his head, needing only mild assistance from him, before tossing it onto the floor behind her. Only now did she let her gaze waver, her eyes taking a moment to sweep over his toned flesh with appreciation. 

Her hands followed suit too, delicately brushing over the hard planes of his chest and stomach. She swept a teasing thumb under the waist of his pants, her fingers teasing the light smattering of hair there, and then moving on to stroke the V of his hips. Those delicate caresses elicited a small shiver in Oliver, his chest rising and falling deeply as his eyes stayed glued to her hands, watching them dance over his body. It wasn't as though she had never seen him like this. But, this was different. They had always been on the edge of, but never dared to explore, this in all their months together, and they were done holding back. 

Though he could go on watching her slowly worship his skin, her touch fanned the flames of desire inside of him, making him desperate for more. So, Oliver slid a hand into her hair, tilting her head back, making her look at him again. When his lips folded around her own again, gently setting a hungry but un-hurried pace, Felicity hummed with satisfaction. Her fingers curled into the waistband of his pants, her knuckles going white as she rose onto her toes, pressing herself further into this kiss. 

It took her a moment, and a few more kisses, before Felicity returned to herself and remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Continuing to meet each other kiss for kiss, Felicity's fingers fumbled with the buttons on his trousers, popping them hastily once she got her bearings, and then sliding his zipper down with more practiced ease. Hooking her thumbs back into his pants, she hastily pushed them down over his hips as Oliver toed off his shoes. As soon as they were off and flung across the room to join the rest of his already discarded clothes, Oliver slid his hands down to join Felicity's, shoving his pants the rest of the way down. Forced to break the kiss momentarily, he bent over and eagerly tugged his pants over his feet, along with his socks, before dropping them on the floor and rising to his full height again, now only clad in his already strained boxer briefs. 

Felicity couldn't help it when her eyes drifted to the growing bulge, or when she sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth. The sight never seemed to get old, and it always sent a fresh wave of desire through her to see how much he wanted her, especially now that she knew it went deeper than just a physical attraction. 

"See something you like?" Oliver purred softly, clearly pulling Felicity out of her musings as her eyes quickly rose to meet his again, a soft blush coloring her cheeks. 

He was grinning like an idiot, but he couldn't help it, and that prideful smile of his had Felicity rolling her eyes dramatically. "You're incorrigible." She teased, playfully slapping his hard stomach with a giggle. 

In a flash, his humor had faded back into desire as his hands came up to cup her face. She inhaled softly when his lips came down, pressing a series of soft kiss against her lips. "And you're remarkable, Felicity Smoak." He praised softly against her lips. 

Pulling away, Oliver cracked his eyes open slightly and a soft chuckle immediately at the sight that met his eyes. Felicity's eyes were barely closed, and her beautiful lips were parted for him, begging for more. 

Eventually, Felicity's eyes fluttered open to meet his when Oliver didn't return for another kiss. "Your turn, hon." Oliver said quietly as he took hold of the hem of her sweatshirt. 

In one smooth motion, Felicity managed to lift her arms above her head as Oliver pulled it over her small frame and tossed it away into the abyss of their scattered clothing. Dropping his gaze, his eyes followed his hands as he brushed his fingers delicately down her arms and then lacing them through her fingers before lifting her arms up to his neck. Without another thought, Felicity gently looped her arms around his neck. She curled one around his broad shoulders, pulling herself a little more into his space, her bare torso delicately brushing against his own as her other hand slid into his hair. 

The moment Felicity shifted closer, Oliver wrapped his hands around her waist, his thumbs stroking over the sensitive skin of her hip bones as he a dropped his head and pressed few kisses against her neck and shoulder. Pausing in one spot to gently nip and suck at the flesh of her shoulder, Oliver slid his hands into the waistband of her pajama pants and underwear, gently easing them both down her legs in one go. 

With a little shimmying from Felicity, they hit the floor with a soft thump before she kicked them off her feet, also flinging them who knows where. Sliding her hand out of his hair, Felicity brought it to rest over his chest, using it to balance as she lifted herself onto her toes, crushing her lips against his again and finally pressing the full length of her body against his. 

At the contact, Oliver groaned into their kiss, his fingers flexing slightly as he trailed them back up her thighs. Without another thought, he slid his hands under her ass and lifted Felicity off the ground with ease. At the same time, Felicity's arm around his neck flexed slightly and her legs deftly found their home around his hips as he walked them towards her bed. 

His shins eventually hit the edge of her bed with a soft thump. And when they did, Oliver looped one arm tightly around Felicity's waist as he crawled onto the bed, using his other hand as a guide as he moved them towards the middle. Carefully, he eased them down until Felicity was safely propped against her pillows and he was nestled between her legs. 

Slowly, Oliver broke the kiss, brushing his nose gently against Felicity's as he pulled away. He locked eyes with her for no more than a breath before dipping his head again to press languid, open-mouthed kisses down the column of her neck, slowly grinding his hips against hers as he worked his way down. 

A sharp gasp left Felicity after one of his small thrusts. Her head rolled back and her body arched off the bed slightly as she pressed herself against him. "Oh fuck... Oliver..." She moaned quietly, her hips starting to work against his as he trailed his lips down her body, finally stopping to tease one of her nipples with his lips and tongue. 

Sliding one hand up her thigh, he slowly wrapped it around her ass, pulling her hips into his as they both moved against one another a little more frantically "Tell me what you want." He whispered softly against her skin as he moved from one breast to the other. 

Another soft gasp from Felicity as she wound one arm around his broad back and wrapped one leg over the back of his thigh. "You... fuck!" She gasped out when he brushed deliciously over her swollen clit on one of his thrusts. "Only you." She breathed, arching her chest into his mouth that was still wrapped around one of her breasts. 

Releasing her breast, Oliver lifted himself up to hover over her, resting his weight on his left forearm as he rolled a little to one side. Slowly, he leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss against Felicity's lips. Then, he dragged his hand still under her ass around to her front, ghosting his fingers over her before dipping them between their bodies. 

Using his thumb, he circled her clit gently, applying just the amount of pressure he knew drove Felicity wild. Suddenly, their soft kiss turned heated as Felicity clamped down on his lower lip, threading one hand into his hair to press him closer as her hips bucked sharply against his thumb. 

Grinning into their kiss, Oliver went a little further and stroked his middle finger over her soaking entrance, earning an immediate mewl of pleasure from Felicity. Breaking their kiss, Oliver trailed a few kisses along her jaw as her head tilted back again in pleasure when he slowly slid a finger inside of her, curling it and stroking it over that spot he knew would do the trick. "There's my naughty girl." He whispered hotly into her ear, gently nibbling and sucking on her lobe as he slowly worked his finger inside of her. 

"Ah..." Felicity's shaky voice moaned out, her hips jerkily bucking against his finger. "Please Oliver... a-ah fuck yes..." She groaned out, her hand in his hair slowly tightening its hold as he picked up the pace and resumed working her clit with his thumb. 

He knew that look. He knew those sounds. He knew, just by the almost desperate movement of her hips in time with his fingers, that she was close. 

Pulling his face from her neck, he lifted himself off of her so he could watch her fall apart. He knew, early on, that this was his favorite moment whenever they were together - knowing he brought her such immeasurable pleasure. And, he would be lying if he said he hadn't missed this. 

And then, Felicity's hand slid down to his bicep of the arm between their bodies, her nails digging into the skin there. Her head rolled back, pressing further into the pile of pillow behind her. "That's it, let go baby." He coaxed softly as he worked his finger inside of her and his thumb over her clit. 

That seemed to be all it took, because Felicity's mouth dropped open, a soft whimper leaving her mouth as her hips bucked wilding against his hand. Releasing her clit, Oliver gently stroked his finger inside of her still, working her through the orgasm, his gaze never leaving her blissed out face. Only when the rhythmic clenching of her walls faded did he pull his finger out and lick it clean. 

Eventually, Felicity came down from her high, her whole body relaxing into the bed and her eyes cracking open just enough to gaze up at him. 

With a soft smile for her, Oliver used his free hand to brush back some of her hair before lowering himself to press a smattering of kisses all over her face. Just before he pressed a final kiss to her lips, Felicity's hand cupped his jaw, her fingers pressing into his skin when their lips finally met in a long, slow kiss. 

In the middle of their kiss, Felicity's hand dropped from his jaw, coming to rest over his heart. But it didn't stay there long, her fingers ghosting over his hot skin, his muscles subtly flexing under her touch along the path she was drawing. When they reached the soft smattering of hair above the waistline of his boxer briefs, Felicity took her time teasing those hairs, but nothing more. 

"Fe-li-ci-ty...." Oliver growled against her lips, though it was more pleading than frustrated. He was so unbelievably turned on after watching her reach her climax, so her teasing was going to be the slow death of him if she didn't hurry up. 

Then, without warning, Felicity snuck her hand past the waistband and wrapped her small fingers around him. 

Oliver broke the kiss, inhaling deeply, as his whole body stiffened at the sudden contact. 

With a devilish grin, Felicity tilted her head to nip at his scruffy jaw as Oliver's head fell limply against her shoulder when she gave him a quick, firm first stroke. "Looks like someone's missed me." She teased lowly into his ear. 

"A-ah shit. Absolutely..." He grunted out against her shoulder, his fingers tightened around her waist as a noticeable shiver passed through him after that first stroke. 

Felicity settled into a gentler rhythm after that, almost lazily stroking him, and he lengthened in her palm with every stroke. It only took a few more for Oliver to start rocking in time with her strokes, but when he did, she released him, earning an immediate and frustrated groan from Oliver. 

No sooner had she released him, though, then she was hooking both of her thumbs into his underwear and hastily shoving them down. Catching the drift, Oliver's free hand joined hers, wiggling his hips around a little awkwardly to discard the offending material as quickly as possible. But, once they were finally off, the final piece of clothing flung onto her floor, Oliver repositioned himself between her legs. 

Nestling his hips against hers, a long groan rumbled up in Oliver's chest as he slowly rolled his hips, his cock poised at her entrance gently prodding it with every subtle thrust. "Felicity..." He breathed out with such longing, dropping his forehead to hers. 

Felicity mewled, rocking against him encouragingly. "Please." She breathed desperately, one of her legs hiking up to wrap around his hip, opening herself up to him as she dug her heel into his ass, trying to press him forward. 

In the same breath, Oliver snuck a hand under her ass, tilted her hips up and eased himself into her wetness. When he was fully-sheathed, a content sigh slipped from his parted lips, matching Felicity's low moan of satisfaction. 

"Oliver..." She breathed after laying there for a moment, foreheads pressed together and their heated breaths fanning each other's faces. "I love you, but I need you to move." She moaned desperately, slowly working her hips against his to create her own pleasure. 

Instead of moving as requested, Oliver pulled his forehead away from hers quickly, his eyes, widened with disbelief, meeting her hooded gaze. It only took him a moment of searching before he leaned down, pressing a kiss to her softly parted lips. "I love you..." He whispered against her lips as his hips pulled back, sliding himself out almost all the way before thrusting himself back in slowly. 

That first movement had Felicity's head rolling back, her body arching off the bed a little as Oliver began to thrust in and out at a languid pace. He wanted to take his time bringing her to her peak again. "I love you...." He whispered again, like a promise against her skin, as he pressed long kisses against both sides of her exposed jaw and neck with each and every thrust of his hips. 

As her pleasure built, Felicity's hands sought his out, finding his forearms and sliding down until her fingers brushed over his hands. Maintaining the long, slow thrusting pace he had started, Oliver briefly put a little more of his weight on her as he let Felicity slide her hands under his. Linking their fingers together, he slowly lifted their entwined hands above her head, stretching Felicity out before him. 

With his head still buried in her neck, Oliver's lips parted slightly, nose brushing the sensitive skin there, his hot breath washing over her skin in increasingly rapid puffs as picked up his pace a little. There was a low throaty moan from Felicity and her hips started to meet his thrusts with her own, tilting slightly to make sure he hit just where she needed him. 

"Oliver please..." She panted, digging her heel into his ass and starting to roll her hips a little more frantically against him. Pressing onto his toes, Oliver groaned as he pushed a little deeper with each thrust but kept his pace slow and unrushed. 

Felicity, however, had other plans. Using what little leverage she had with her free foot, Felicity pressed that heel into the bed, turning her hips as she attempted to flip them over. When Oliver got the hint, he relaxed his body and let her guide them until he was on his back, Felicity perched above him while he was completely sheathed inside of her, their hands now pressed into the pillows above his head. 

As she slowly started to ride him, Oliver's eyes met hers, his eyebrow quirking with a mischievous grin. Sucking her lip between her bottom teeth, Felicity's lips curled into a coy grin as she shifted her weight onto their entwined hands so she could slide up and down his length a little faster, faster than Oliver had been moving earlier. 

His grin softened as he watched Felicity's eyes flutter shut and her head roll back as she rode him, setting her own hurried but controlled pace. Squeezing her fingers, still linked with his, he never took his eyes off of her as he rhythmically clenched his butt, thrusting up into her to increase the pleasure of each one of her strokes over his length. 

It wasn't long before her rhythm broke and her hips slammed down onto his. "Oh f-fuck." She stuttered out, her body bowing taught above him as her hips ground over his frantically. 

Slipping his hands out from under hers, Felicity gripped the pillows by his head and his hands sought out her hips. Guiding her frantic hips, Oliver pressed her as close as he could while continuing to thrust up into her gently. 

Keeping his eyes on her the entire time, Oliver knew the minute she was going to fall over the edge again. Felicity's eyes screwed shut, a little crease forming between her brow, and her mouth parting slightly as her walls started to flutter around him. Her hips picked up the pace, grinding over him desperately for the briefest of moments before coming to a halt quickly as she clamped down hard on him. 

"A-a-ahh, yes, Oliverrr" She stuttered out through her throaty, strangled moan as he thrust into her slightly, trying to prolong her orgasm as her hips moved jerkily over his with each residual wave of it. 

Slowly, Felicity drooped over him until her shaking arms gave out and she fell onto his broad chest. Not wanting to continue until she had a chance to enjoy the moment, Oliver laid there with her, Felicity's chest heaving against his as she regained her composure after her intense orgasm. 

Then, he felt the first touch of Felicity's lips to the slick skin of his collar bone and the touch of her fingers when she wrapped her hands around his sides. Wrapping his own arms around her waist, he pinned her to his body and then rolled them back over. Thrusting into her suddenly, he earned a loud gasp from Felicity as she clung a little tighter to him, her hips automatically reacting against his, clearly still sensitive from her recent orgasm. 

Burying his head into her neck, Oliver's whole body curled around Felicity as he thrust wildly into her, finally chasing his own release. His lips parted, panting hot breaths against her slick skin, an occasional grunt mixing with them too as he lost himself in her for a moment. 

"O-oh, oh god... yes, Oliver..." Oliver vaguely heard Felicity pant breathlessly, her words quivering, just like her thighs around his waist, as she spoke over his frantic thrusting. 

His grunts became deeper and more frequent. Shifting his weight onto one arm, Oliver slid his hand under one of her knees and pushed her leg up towards her chest, allowing him to go deeper now with every one of his pounding thrusts. 

And then, Felicity gasped sharply, her nails digging into his back as her walls started to flutter around him again, albeit more subdued than her earlier orgasms. Those little flutters sent shock waves through Oliver, and his hips snapped into hers one final time, leaving no space between them. 

Inhaling suddenly, Oliver's teeth clamped down over the meat of her shoulder. His hips spasmed erratically against Felicity's as he finally spilled himself inside of her with a long groan, barely muffled by the hold he had on her shoulder. It was an intense orgasm, one that had his entire body spasming in the wake of it. 

Slowly, Oliver released her leg from his shaky hand, letting it slide back down next to his hips as he placed that hand on the bed next to them to help support his spent body. With his head still resting in the crook of Felicity's neck, Oliver remained hovering over her, his chest heaving with each gasping breath he took. When his heart beat began to slow and his breathing somewhat returned to normal, Oliver pressed a few gentle kisses over the spot he had clamped down hard on with his teeth just moments ago, hoping to soothe the irritated skin there. 

A brief shiver shook his body when Felicity's fingers ghosted over his neck, her nails gently scratching at the hairs at the base of his skull while her other hand absentmindedly stroked his side. 

It took him a moment, but at her touch he finally lifted his head from its spot, and his eyes met her contentedly smiling face. He stared at her in awe for a moment, basking in her warm glow, letting its rays soak his skin, and his heart. 

A grin tugged at his own lips suddenly, despite the pure exhaustion coursing through him, as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss that lasted no more than a few seconds. When he did pull away, he gently eased himself out of Felicity with a sigh before flopping onto the bed next to her. The smile still hadn't left his face. 

A minute or so of content silence passed between them before Oliver forced himself up with a grunt, still fighting the exhaustion. "Bathroom?" He asked softly, the fingers of one of his hands skimming delicately over her thigh closest to him. 

Felicity's eyes fluttered shut with a soft smile. "Door to my left." She mumbled, her voice still thick with satisfaction. 

With a grin, Oliver placed one final kiss on her smiling lips. "I'll be right back." He whispered against her lips before rolling out of bed onto his shaky legs, moving around the bed over to the door she indicated. 

It didn't take him long to return, with a damp wash cloth in hand, and climb back into bed with Felicity, who had curled under her covers while he was gone. He made quick work of cleaning her up, errantly tossing the cloth over his shoulder before settling back into the bed on his side with his head propped up in his hand, no more than a few inches away from Felicity. Reaching out, he laid his arm across her stomach, his fingers stroking softly over the skin of her hip. 

Felicity curled her bottom lip between her teeth, covering her shy smile as she rolled over to face him. When her eyes moved from his chest up to his eyes, the sight had him breathless for a moment. 

"Say it again." She asked softly, the tiredness in her voice making it sound almost pleading. 

Brushing a few wild hairs away from her face, he tucked them behind her ear. His hand continued downward, stroking lazily over the curve of her shoulder and down her arm where he stopped to entwine their fingers, fiddling with them gently as he brought his eyes up to meet hers. "I love you, Felicity." He said clearly with a big grin, no longer whispering. He wanted to say the words proudly because he finally could, knowing she felt the same for him now. 

Firmly entwining their hand now, Felicity gave it a squeeze before pulling him close with it until her nose bumped his. Oliver slid his arm that was draped over her waist around her completely, pulling her even closer to him. "I love you too." She said, just a confidently, against his lips before closing the gap to meet his lips in a lingering peck. 

When they finally broke the contact, Felicity's eyes sought his again, and he immediately saw the questions in her eyes. "When?" 

Pinching his lips together and scrunching his face up in thought, he hummed quietly for a second until a big grin broke out over his face. "After that first disastrous week of mine at Smoak Tech." He confessed, his hand finding its way back to her hip where he went back to lazily tracing patterns over the skin there. 

Felicity slapped his chest with a giggle. "Be serious! There's no way you fell in love with me then. I was horrible to you." 

"You're right. But, something did shift after that week for me. I wanted to be better for you. I wanted to be someone that deserved the belief you seemed to have in me." Suddenly, his dopey grin turned into a small smirk. "And then, there was that night..." He reminded with a little wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Felicity's eyes widened briefly before she quickly buried her face in his chest. "Oh my god. I still can't believe I did that. I had to have been completely delirious." She groaned out. 

He chuckled loudly at that. It was ironic, her reaction to that memory considering what they had just done and that they are still quite naked. "I'm glad you did that. You definitely didn't hear me complaining." 

After a quiet pause, Felicity finally pulled back to look at him again, a twinkle in her own eyes now, all traces of earlier embarrassment utterly erased. "No, you're right, there was a very different set of noises coming out of your mouth that night." 

"Seriously, when did you realize it?" She pressed on. 

"While we were at the conference in Metropolis." 

Felicity blushed deeply at the memory, her eyes glazing over slightly as her mind drifted off for a moment. 

Oliver laughed, his fingers briefly squeezing her hip to bring her back to the present. "It wasn't that, well... not entirely. It was getting to fall asleep with you in my arms for the first time, and then waking up next to you the next morning. I realized that was what had been missing for me, that I wanted that every time, not just all of our stolen, secretive moments." 

Felicity's eyes widened, her lips parting into a small 'o'. "That's funny because I finally admitted the truth to myself after the snow storm." 

A look of sudden understanding passed over Oliver's face. "So that's why..." 

"Yeah..." Felicity dropped her eyes to his chest. "I should have just told you, but I was afraid of what it meant, how messy things would get, so I panicked. You were about to leave Smoak Tech and go back to QC. I wasn't sure if it was just my fear of you leaving, or if you leaving would change how I felt about you..." She admitted, her pained gaze lifting up to meet his again. 

A sudden, breathy laugh escaped Oliver's lips. He shook his head slowly, an amused smile curling his lips. "Oh my god, we really are idiots." 

"You're not...mad at me?" She clarified tentatively. 

"W-what? No, Felicity, of course not. I was just as much the cause of this whole ridiculous mess. Neither of us envisioned our fling ending up here when we started, and it scared us both when we realized what had happened. We both messed up, but I don't care. It was bound to happen. All I care about is having you in my life, so getting to be with you like this is more than I could have hoped for." 

Sliding her hand up his chest to cup his jaw, Felicity stared up at him in awe. "How did I ever get so lucky?" She breathed out, her eyes still roaming his face, taking in this moment. 

He shook his head softly, pressing forward to drop a lingering kiss on her lips, one Felicity arched into happily. "I'm the lucky one. You're remarkable and always have been. Nine months ago, I was a pompous ass who still thought everything would be served to me on a silver platter. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am so much better for having known you, Felicity." 

Felicity still gaped at him with tears in her eyes now. "You really do love me?" She choked out, her tone more of disbelief than of confidence. 

He nodded his head enthusiastically, a dopey grin curling his lips as he held her gaze. "Like I said earlier, I was an idiot to think that I _wouldn't_ fall in love with you." He whispered before leaning in to brush his lips against hers again – something Oliver found he just couldn't get enough of now. 

She huffed out a soft laugh at that as she pursed her lips to reciprocate the gesture. When they both parted, Felicity curled herself into his chest again and wrapped her arm around him as she slipped one leg between his. Oliver wrapped her up in his arms with a content smile, more than happy to be able to hold her close. 

Then, she pressed a kiss to his chest, right about where his heart was. Her lips lingered on his skin and his heart stuttered weakly at the gesture. "For the record, the feeling is _very_ mutual..." Felicity mumbled sleepily, nuzzling his chest a little as she got herself comfortable. 

Releasing his hold on her for a moment, Oliver pulled the blanket a little tighter around them. He then immediately curled around her again, pressing a soft kiss into the crown of her hair. "Good night, Felicity." He murmured with a weak smile. 

Finally, his own emotional and physical exhaustion caught up to him too, forcing his eyes shut as he was pulled into one of the best sleeps of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY'VE FINALLY ADMITTED THEIR FEELINGS!!!!!!!!! I know it's take a long time for them (and us) to get here, but I really do hope this moment was worth the wait.
> 
> In other news, this story isn't done just yet!! There's probably only a few more chapters left, but I want to explore their relationship now that's out in the open and how they navigate going public and their brand new status. 
> 
> As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts because they always make my day!


End file.
